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The Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of copper hemispheres used in a famous experiment conducted between 1654 and 1663 by Otto von Guericke. In this experiment, Guericke removed the air from between the hemispheres, creating a vacuum inside the hollow copper sphere. He sealed the hemispheres together at their rims using grease, ensuring an airtight seal. Guericke demonstrated the strength of atmospheric pressure by attempting to separate the hemispheres using two teams of horses, each harnessed to one hemisphere and pulling in opposite directions. This experiment was first conducted in front of the Reichstag and Emperor Ferdinand III in Regensburg. Despite the efforts of thirty horses, the hemispheres could not be separated until the vacuum was released.
