The Chain Experiment is an annual competition which originated in Slovenia in 2005 and later
expanded to Poland in 2013. For the purpose of the event, each participating team designs and builds
a contraption that transports a small steel ball from one end to the other. At the same time the
constructed machine needs to use a number of interesting phenomena and physics laws. In the
competition’s finale, all contraptions are connected to each other to form a long chain transporting
steel balls. In brief, they are all evaluated for qualities such as: creativity and advance in
theoretical background, as well as the reliability of the constructed machine to work without human
help. In this article, we present the contraptions developed by students taking part in the
competition in order to demonstrate the advance in theoretical basis together with creativity in
design and outstanding engineering skills of its participants. Furthermore, we situate the Chain
Experiment in the context of…