Impossible bottle
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An impossible bottle is a type of mechanical puzzle. It is a bottle that has an object inside of it which does not appear to fit through the mouth of the bottle.
The ship in a bottle is a traditional type of impossible bottle. Other common objects used include matchboxes, decks of cards, tennis balls, racketballs, Rubik's cubes, padlocks, knots and scissors.
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[edit] Ship in the bottle
There are many ways to put a ship inside of a bottle. The simplest and most widespread way is to rig the masts of the ship and raise them up when the ship is inside the bottle. Masts, spars and sails are built separately and then attached to the hull of the ship with strings and hinges so the masts can lie flat against the deck. The ship is then placed inside the bottle and the masts are pulled up using the strings attached to the masts.[1][2] The hull of the ship must still be able to fit through the opening.[3] Bottles with minor distortions and soft tints are often chosen to hide the small details of the ship such as hinges on the masts. The objects inside impossible bottles almost always go through the neck; only dice, pennies and an occasional metal figurine have bottles blown around them.[citation needed]
Alternatively, with specialized long-handled tools, it is possible to build the ship inside the bottle.[citation needed]
Fruits and vegetables in bottles are produced by placing them in a bottle while small and on the plant, and allowing them to grow to full size in the bottle.[citation needed]
[edit] Pine cone in the bottle
An derivation of the impossible bottle takes advantage of the fact that pine cones open and close based on their level of dryness. In constructing the display, a closed, damp cone of suitable size is inserted into a narrow-mouthed bottle and allowed to open upon drying.[4]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ship in a bottle |
Gallery of folk art in bottles
