What you need to know about the Magic 8 ball
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To look at it simply, a Magic 8 ball online is a fortune telling tool that has made its way into popular culture as a game or novelty item. It is designed to bring an actual billiard ball to mind, being black, shiny and round, and featuring a number 8 – but also a circular section where you can see your answer. If you are familiar with the game of pool, it is easily recognizable as a giant version.
It will give you answers and predictions to any question you can throw at it, but these responses may or may not be true. In fact, some of the returns it gives are purposefully ambiguous and allow the user to make up their own mind about what may or may not happen.
Modern Online Magic 8 balls are made from plastic and are filled with a dark-colored liquid. This is visible through a round hole in the side of it (opposite to where you would expect to find the number 8) and floating in the middle is a small implement that is similar to a die.
Different responses are printed on the sides of this die, but it is no ordinary die – some can give up to twenty different feedbacks. Shaking the entire device is rotating the die, and when the die settles down, it will float into position in the window, revealing the answer.
How many Magic 8 Ball answers are there?
All the magic 8 ball answers are displayed below. To find the right response, it is sorted in groups of 3; the positive, neutral and negative.
| 10 positive answers | 5 neutral answers | 5 negative answers |
| It is certain. | Reply hazy, try again. | Don’t count on it. |
| It is decidedly so. | Ask again later. | My reply is no. |
| Without a doubt. | Better not tell you now. | My sources say no. |
| Yes – definitely. | Cannot predict now. | Outlook not so good. |
| You may rely on it. | Concentrate and ask again. | Very doubtful. |
| As I see it, yes. | ||
| Most likely. | ||
| Outlook good. | ||
| Yes. | ||
| Signs point to yes. |
A standard Magic 8 ball has twenty answers, all inscribed on a 20-sided white plastic die. The die itself floats in a blue liquid which gives the effect of the answer slowly appearing as you look through the window.
However, the number of answers has varied throughout the history of the device. In its original version, two six-sided dice were used to provide responses. This gave a total of 12 possible answers. The first major revision saw this being reduced to a single die, giving the possibility of just six answers.
Why was 20 responses chosen?
Further revisions significantly changed the design, and gave us the twenty answers we are familiar with. The online Magic 8 ball has more positive than negative, as ten of the answers it gives are positive, while 5 are negative. The remaining five suggests asking later or uncertainty about the result.
This is by design, and gives a better experience when using the 8-ball – nobody would consistently want to use it if every response were negative. The general concept of the Magic 8 ball answers and its predecessors is as a form of entertainment, and so leaving you with a good feeling is the best way to make you want to come back for more.
Online Magic 8 ball vs Magic eight ball
So is there andy difference in having an online Magic 8 ball versus a classic, original Magic eight ball toy? The short answer is no. The online Magic 8 ball have the same outcomes from as the Magic eight ball. It is incredibly random and based on an RNG algorithm.
However; if you want to know if these outcomes are truly random, think carefully and only ask the question once. There is a general understanding that if you put the same question into it several times, the outcome will change and you will not experience the same result.
What is inside?
The toy is made on a production line in the same way that many other toys are made. It is currently made from an assortment of plastics and contains a mysterious blue liquid. Exactly how it is put together and made to work may have been a bit of a mystery to you - until now. To understand how it is put together, you must look at the history of the development. The original design was a long tube filled blue goop, split in the middle with a 6-sided die in each end.
Flipping the gadget allowed the die to float to the top and have one face viewable through a small window – each side of the die had a different message inscribed on it. Flipping it again allowed the user to view the answer that would show at the opposite end.
The modern Magic 8 ball online works in a very similar way. The round orb is actually just a shell that houses an internal tube. Unlike the original, this tube only has one viewable end, but the important part to note is that the entirety is not filled with a aqua – it is only this tube that contains it.
The 20-sided die, Icosahedron
Six options would never be enough in this day and age, and so the standard includes a 20-sided die, known as an icosahedron. This is a shape that borders on spherical, and each face is triangular in shape.
The whole die is made of white plastic and features raised white letters to display the answers. The die is evenly weighted, making any option as likely to appear as any other.
Mysterious dark liquid
The original tool received a patent in the 1940s and was known as a liquid-filled dice agitator, which is exactly with the current. By shaking or moving the orb around, the die is agitated within the liquid, and will float to the top.
There are several significant changes to be aware of since the initial offering. One of the biggest problems (and most complained about issues) of the early models was that shaking the device could result in bubbles forming in the liquid. According to some sources, shaking it is not necessary to obtain a different result; just a small flick of the wrist can do it. As shaking was common, the bubble problem was also very common.
There are openings on the die for the blue dye and alcohol to enter. This makes the die only very slightly buoyant, which is why it floats very slowly to the viewing window. The dark dye is no longer thick and mysterious, it’s just that the die doesn’t float very well.
See a video of the Magic 8 ball shaked
a lot of times
A Magic 8 ball fortune teller
The original idea for the toy’s predecessor dates back to a man named Alfred Carter, whose mother was a clairvoyant and fortune teller. She claimed that she could communicate with ghosts. It would later be used as a marketing ploy and was decorated with zodiac signs and demonstrated in stores by “gypsy fortune tellers”. With a new look, the lower price, and smaller size.
People always find stories about exciting mythical things – probably because, as human beings, we tend to be drawn to the mythical and the unknown. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that the world has been taken by storm by the tales surrounding the classic Ouija Board and the Magic 8 ball fortune teller.
Mattel Inc. trademark
The Magic 8 ball was based on Mary Carter, a clairvoyant in Cincinnati in the 1940s. The success and growth in sales continued, and in 1971, Alabe Crafts was bought by Ideal Toys.
Between 1982 and 1985, CBS bought and sold Ideal on to View-Master. View-Master, known for their 3D image viewers as well as Magna-Doodle, was in turn bought by Tyco Toys in 1989. Tyco were sold to Mattel, who are now the current manufacturers of the product.
For the original inventors, the sales of the modern toy would be an absolute delight – around 1 million Magic 8 balls are sold every year. Not bad for a toy that was based on an idea from a clairvoyant using a box of tricks!
NB. Mattel Inc. is not affiliated with Magic-8ball.com, or with the owners of Magic-8ball.com. By using this online toy, you agree that your doing so at your own risk.
FAQ
What is a magic 8 ball?
A magic 8 ball is a hollow sphere, made out of plastic and printed to look like the 8-ball from a billiards game. It is filled with a dark blue or black liquid, usually alcohol and contains one 20-sided die. Instead of numbers on the die, the sides are printed with a variety of yes, no, and maybe-type answers.
How to make a magic 8 ball?
While the magic 8 ball does look like it is completely filled with dark liquid, it is actually constructed around a much smaller cylinder that contains the liquid and the answer die. The reservoir is tucked into the sphere. This provides a much smaller area for the die to move around in and makes sure that it settles at the bottom of the ball after shaking.
How many answers are in a magic 8 ball?
Modern magic 8 balls have 20 answers in total. These answers are printed on a 20-sided die and are raised to stand out against the liquid. The answered are skewed towards “yes,” with 10 of the sides bearing positive answers, 5 having negative answers, and 5 having vague or “maybe” answers.
What does the magic 8 ball say?
A magic 8 ball can provide one of 20 different answers. Each answer is printed on one side of a 20-sided die. When you shake the ball, the die floats in the blue liquid and then settles at the bottom. It will be one of the options listed in the top of the article.
What is inside a magic 8 ball?
Inside of the black sphere that is the traditional exterior of a magic 8 ball, there is cylinder. This plastic cylinder contains alcohol, into which blue dye has been dissolved. Floating in the alcohol is a 20-sided die. The patented magic 8-ball sayings are printed on the die’s faces.
What does the inside of a magic 8 ball look like?
While some assume that the entire magic 8-ball is full of the blue liquid, the black plastic of the exterior is usually actually a thick solid barrier around a cylinder that contains the liquid and the fortune-telling die. The cylinder is equipped with a mechanism that prevents bubbles in the liquid.
What shape is the message-bearing die inside a magic 8-ball?
The die inside of a magic 8 ball has twenty sides. This type of die is called a Icosahedron, and is constructed out of twenty equilateral triangles.
What is the blue stuff in a magic 8 ball?
The blue stuff inside a magic 8 ball is an alcohol solution, dyed with blue dye. The most common size of magic 8 ball has about 100 ml of liquid, contained inside a cylinder that is nested inside the black sphere that makes up the exterior of the ball.
What is the liquid in a magic 8 ball?
The liquid inside a magic 8 ball is alcohol that has been dyed blue. The alcohol and dye mixture are more viscous than water and dye would be, allowing the fortune-telling die to float a little, rather than just falling immediately to the bottom of the ball.
How to open a magic 8 ball?
Opening a magic 8 ball is not recommended. However, here is how to do it: Pry open the seam around the equator of the ball with a knife or screwdriver. Once the sides have been pried apart, use a screwdriver to remove the screws that hold the liquid cylinder in place. Pry off the bubble trap with a knife or screwdriver.
When was the magic 8 ball invented?
The magic 8 ball as we know it was invented in 1950, but its origins stretch back nearly a century. In the early 20th century, a clairvoyant used a contraption made of a chalkboard inside a sealed box. Patrons would ask it questions and the spirits would supposedly write the answer on the board.
Who invented the magic 8 ball?
A clairvoyant’s son, Albert C. Carter, took that idea of a random answer being provided by something locked in a sealed container and created the first version of the magic 8 ball in 1944. The idea was then licensed to a billiards company who added the black 8-ball styling.
How does a magic 8 ball work?
A magic 8 ball works like this: The user holds the ball and thinks of a yes or no question. They then shake the ball, which agitates a printed die floating in dark blue liquid inside of the ball. When the shaking stops, the die settles to the bottom of the ball, revealing a yes, no, or vague answer.
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I used this online tool when I broke up with my boyfriend. A time where I needed clarity.
Brilliant. I have so many questions, and I love that I have this possibility every day to ask.
I always wonder - but no more. Now I know.
