The Buckyball
The 1996 Nobel Prize winning Buckminsterfullerene molecule constructed out of carbon fiber as a truncated icosahedral cage.
View the carbon fiber Buckyball assembly instructions and video at the link below.
Introducing Buckminsterfullerene (aka the Buckyball, aka the Truncated Icosahedron)!
The 60 atom polyhedral carbon molecule, C60, known as Buckminsterfullerene (dubbed the Buckyball) was unexpectedly discovered by a team of chemists while studying graphite being blasted by lasers in 1985. The researchers were stunned by their mass spectrometer results and puzzled as to what the structure of this new carbon allotrope could be. They made models with toothpicks, jelly beans and paper cut-outs, but were unable to fold their hexagonal structures into a sphere.
They were eventually reminded of the geodesic domes pioneered by architect Richard Buckminster Fuller and figured out the secret they were missing was the pentagon. It turned out the shape of C60 was Archimedes' truncated icosahedron. The discoverers of this new carbon molecule were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 and created a new field of nanotechnology research in the class of carbon molecules known as fullerenes (carbon nanotubes).
Our goal with this campaign is to recreate the models that the Noble Prize winning chemists made, but instead of toothpicks and paper, we are using (very appropriately) carbon fiber and ultra modern manufacturing to create an extremely high quality Buckyball model comprised of 150 components!
Math & Chemistry Talk - C60⚽
The Buckyball's discovery is a scientific journey of how a curiosity in interstellar dust resulted in a newly observed molecule which unexpectedly is based on the Archimedean solid, the truncated icosahedron. The scientific history and implications of this discovery are vast and this Kickstarter's short summary barely scratches the surface.
In Ancient Greece, the geometers of the day looked up at the stars and wondered how geometry could explain the large scale of the Universe, as well as the atomic scale. Over 2,000 years later, Sir Harold Kroto, a chemist, was also looking up at the stars, but was doing so with a radio telescope and the tools of spectroscopy to study interstellar carbon chain formation. This curiosity lead Kroto to Houston in 1985, where Professor Rick Smalley had developed a laser apparatus (called AP2). Upon vaporizing carbon to temperatures hotter than the sun and reviewing the mass spectrometer data, the results showed the existence of a carbon molecule with 720 amu (atomic mass units). Considering a single carbon atom is 12 amu, this could only mean that a new molecule comprised of 60 carbon atoms was created by the laser's extreme heat. The C60 molecule was created!
At the time, the chemistry team was unsure of C60's structure, but believed it was some type of closed "cage." Other scientists throughout the world, initially dubious that C60 existed at all, believed C60 was comprised of a sheet-like structure similar to graphite. Eventually the team figured out the shape, a truncated icosahedron. The mathematics department concurred and said "what you've go there is a soccer ball!" The world had to wait until 1991 when chemist Joel Hawkins published the first X-ray images of C60's structure, proving Kroto and his colleagues were correct.
(Left): Our Machined aluminum anodized da Vinci Dodecahedrons. (Right) The carbon fiber Buckyball.
Known to the earliest geometers and carefully sketched by by Leonardo da Vinci in his book De divina proportione (on Divine Proportion) in 1509, the Buckyball's shape has been known as a truncated icosahedron since Archimedes (212 BCE). However, the Archimedean solids were re-discovered by Renaissance painter Piero del la Francesca in the late 15th century and he is credited with the earliest drawing of one.
AltDynamic Quality
Design & Ultra Light Carbon Fiber
Our Buckyballs, made in the USA, are joined in a method we call beam and node construction. This is similar to architect Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome construction method. The nodes are made from epoxy resin and the beams are made from parallel orientation carbon fiber.
Comprised of 150 total components
60 nodes (representing the carbon atoms)
90 beams
Buckyballs do not ship assembled, the recipient will need to assemble them just like the original chemistry research team did. Minimal adhesive may need to be used.
Most molecule models are focused on showing the arrangement of atoms within the molecule (spheres connected by small diameter beams). This is of course extremely helpful, but in the case of the Buckyball, its discoverers were initially more focused on its overall shape. The first paper model of the C60 molecule did not even have atoms on the vertices. For this reason, our design philosophy was to create a model that highlighted the geometry of the molecule and did not include spheres on the vertices.
Dimensions
The width of a Buckyball is dictated by the length of the edges/beams. We are also offering two beam diameters. The thinner beam diameter, "Smalley" size, is a reference to the models made by one of the three Nobel Prize winners, Rick Smalley. The larger "Classic" size is closer to the models the researchers built once they were more confidant in their shapes. According to Kroto, he was so excited to build more models he ordered 10,000 carbon molecule building kits just to see how other larger Buckyballs would look.
Smalley Size - (Beam Diameter - .12 in. (3 mm)) Approx. 1 oz. (28 g)
Smalley Size #1, Beam Length 30 mm: 7 in. (17.8 cm) Diameter
Smalley Size #2, Beam Length 40 mm: 9 in. (22.9 cm) Diameter
Classic Size - (Beam Diameter - .2 in. (5 mm)) Approx. 4.5 oz. (127 g)
Classic Size #1, Beam Length 40 mm: 9.5 in. (24 cm) Diameter
Classic Size #2, Beam Length 50 mm: 12 in.(30 cm) Diameter
