model_since 02.03.2020.
model_since 02.03.2020.
The Gömböc [ˈɡœmbœts] is the first known homogenous object with one stable and one unstable equilibrium point, thus two equilibria altogether on a horizontal surface. It can be proven that no object with less than two equilibria exists.
The name Gömböc is derived from the Hungarian word "gömb" for ball and can also mean pressed sausage or dumpling. The name was coined by Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi, who discovered it in 2006 by following a conjecture of Vladimir Igorevich Arnold.
The individual copy, numbered 1828, was specially CNC-milled from an aluminum alloy (AlMgSi1) for the Technical University of Dresden. The model number relates to the establishment of the »Technische Bildungsanstalt zu Dresden« on May 1, 1828 and thus honors the founding of today's TU Dresden. The Gömböc was sponsored by Ottó Albrecht, who thus promotes the spread of this first »mono-monostatic« object.