19 Dec

0

Surface Tension and a Ping Pong Ball Experiment

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Can you place a Ping Pong Ball in the center of a cup or bowl and not have it move to the side? Answer is yes, if you break down the surface tension. Check it out!   Placing the Ping-Pong ball at the surface of the water creates curvature in the water surface all the way around the ball. The surface tension will act to minimize the total surface area. Unless the ball is placed exactly in the middle of the cup   Which is nearly impossible!   There is an asymmetry in the surface curvature that will draw the…

19 Dec

0

Dissolving Styrofoam Experiment

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SAFETY: This is a really cool experiment, but it requires a few safety precautions. Acetone should only be handled by an adult and due to the fumes of acetone, it should be done outside. This solvent is very flammable. Keep away from all flames.   Have your kids predict what will happen to the Styrofoam cup when you put it into Acetone? Acetone is (Nail Polish Remover). Sounds so much more cooler saying Acetone.   This is a tricky one. It looks like a chemical reaction because it is so dramatic, but actually it is a physical reaction. Acetone is…

19 Dec

0

Make your own Mucus experiment

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PROCEDURE 1) Ask a adult to heat 1/2 cup of water to it boils. 2) Then take the pot off the heat. Then add 2 drops of food coloring. I use Gross Green 3) Add 3 packages of unflavored gelatin and stir for a couple minutes. 4) Then add about 1/2 cup of corn syrup so you have about 1 cup of thick mixture. 5) Stir with a fork and lift out some long strands of gunk. 6) As it cools, you might need to add water, spoonful by spoonful.   EXPLANATION You have just made fake or artificial mucus….

19 Dec

0

Karate Chop With Air Pressure Experiment

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EXPLANATION I was able to chop the ruler in two because of air pressure. When I spread out the newspaper on top of the ruler, I basically created a large suction cup because I’ve preventing air from flowing underneath. When I strike the ruler, it tries to lift up against the newspaper, but because the air can’t flow very quickly into the space between the table and the newspaper, most of it simply pushes down on the newspaper (and the ruler).   Since I had 8 inches of ruler covered by the newspaper. And one inch wide, that would mean…

19 Dec

0

Earthquake Shake Table (Terremoto) Experiment

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There are several different experimental techniques that can be used to test the response of structures to verify their seismic performance, one of which is the use of an earthquake shaking table (a shaking table, or simply shake table)   Building in earthquake country can be a tricky business. Architects and engineers run simulations using models and shake tables to test the integrity of buildings and determine necessary reinforcements. In this activity, I use a very simple, non motorized shake table to test my structures.   PROCEDURE Place two boards or blind voters on top of one another. “Rubber bands”…

19 Dec

0

Floating Dry Erase Letters Experiment

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Permanent markers, like Sharpie makes, rely on inks with a strong adhesive to stick to almost any surface you write on. But dry erase markers use inks with a minimal adhesive, making notes and drawings that can be easily wiped away afterwards.   The ink in dry erase markers is also insoluble. That means it can’t be dissolved in a liquid, and more importantly, it means it’s less dense than water. When you pour water onto a dry erase word science on a smooth surface (Plate for the Dollar store), a strong buoyancy force overcomes the stickiness of the ink,…

19 Dec

0

Will a Bowling ball Sink of Float? density experiment

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The answer is it depends on the bowling ball.   This is the same reason boats can float even though they weight thousands and thousands of pounds. They take up less mass then the volume of water they are displacing.   When the ball is submerged in the water, it displaces its volume in water. According to Archimedes’ principle, the water can “push back” with a force (buoyancy) equal to the weight of the water that has been displaced.   The magic number for a bowling ball to float is 12lbs, when the ball is 12.5lbs then it will sink….

19 Dec

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Sensory Systems Respond to Water Temperature Experiment

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If you submerge one hand in hot water and the other in ice-water simultaneously for about a minute, then immediately put both in room temperature water, what will be the temperature sensation of each hand?   Most of our sensory systems respond to **changes** in stimuli. They are not absolute detectors.   Thus if a stimulus is constant, it will eventually be ignored by the nervous system. Cases in point. Why don’t you feel the clothes you are wearing after you put them on? Because they exert a constant pressure on your skin. Why don’t you hear (after a while)…

19 Dec

0

Bubble Prints Experiment

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When two bubbles meet, they will merge walls to minimize their surface area. If bubbles that are the same size meet, then the wall that separates them will be flat. If bubbles that are different sizes meet, then the smaller bubble will bulge into the large bubble. Bubbles meet to form walls at an angle of 120°. If enough bubbles meet, the cells will form hexagons. You can see this structure in the images you make in this project.   The forces acting between the molecules of the bubble cause it to form the shape that encloses the most volume…

19 Dec

0

Atmospheric pressure Mat Experiment

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The atmospheric pressure mat is approximately 10.5 x 10.5 inches and it does not let air under it when pulled straight up because of a tight seal between the rubber and surface.   There is approximately 1620 lbs of pressure pushing it down from the air mass above it and as long as no additional air can get under the mat it can theoretically lift that much pressure. In reality, it’s much less because of the imperfect seal between the mat and object and the small quantity of air under the hook.   As you pull up on the hook,…

19 Dec

0

AIR Cannon (Airzooka) experiment

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The air cannon also known as the“vortex generator” is one of my all time favorite experiments. The air that shoots out of the cannon makes a vortex of air that is generated because the air leaving at the center of the hole is traveling faster than the air leaving around the edge of the hole. The air around the edges takes longer to get out of the can.   Wouldn’t be cool if we could see the vortex and it shot out of the cannon? Well we can and this is where this experiment becomes really cool. Fill the cannon…

19 Dec

0

Pop a balloon that is inside another balloon Experiment

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The power of the sun. Don’t blink or your going to miss this one. Why does the inside black balloon pop before the outside clear balloon pop when using a magnifying glass? The clear balloon has most of the light pass through it like a window, but the black balloon surface that doesn’t reflect any light… it absorbs almost all of it. With a surface absorbing all of that light, it also absorbs the energy. In this case, that energy is heat, and a lot of it. The heat absorbed by the black balloon from the focused sunlight quickly causes…

19 Dec

0

Soda Can Jump experiments

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Soda can Launch! Kids will love this hands on experiment. See how far you can launch your soda can? Blowing air in between the can and the coffee cup creates an area of high pressure between the bottom of the can and the inside of the coffee mug. The harder you blow, the more rapidly the air pressure between the surfaces increases.  

19 Dec

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Air Pressure Can CRUSHER Experiment

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What caused the can to collapse? Before we started the can was filled with water and air. When we heated the can it caused the liquid to turn to gas (Vapor) when the water boil. The vapor from the boiling water pushed air out of the can. Now the can is filled with water vapor, we cooled it suddenly by inverting it in water. Cooling the can caused the water vapor in the can to condense, creating a partial vacuum. The extremely low pressure of the partial vacuum inside the can made it possible for the pressure of the air…

19 Dec

0

Balloon in a bottle Science Experiment

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When I first tried to inflate the balloon it was impossible. This was because the bottle is enclosed and inside air already occupied all the space. So when we tried to blow up the balloon there was no room for the balloon to inflate and grow.   The second time I tired to blow up the balloon the balloon inflated and easily expanded. This occurred because the air inside the bottle was pushed out the exit hole as the balloon inflated. When I placed my thumb over the hole once the balloon was inflated it stayed that way because we…

19 Dec

0

Bernoulli Blaster Experiment

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This experiment awesome way to demonstrate the unexpected effects of low air pressure with an leaf blower. A fast stream of air across the top of this clear tube lowers the air pressure in the tube. As a result, high air pressure below the tube propels the ping-pong balls upward in the tube, in apparent defiance of gravity! The balls are pushed up the tube right into the stream of the leaf blower and off they go.  

19 Dec

0

Marsh Mallow CRUSHER! (FIZZ-KEEPER PUMP)

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Pumping the Fizz-Keeper forces molecules of air into bottles, just like inflating a tire. While marshmallows are present in the bottle, this increased air pressure makes the marshmallows shriveled, wrinkly, and shrink. Why? Well, it’s because marshmallows are just sugar and air. In fact, marshmallows are comprised of about 40-60% air. When you increase the air pressure inside of the bottle beyond the regular pressure outside, the force actually crushes the marshmallow’s air pockets.   You can use this demonstration to discuss the effects of atmospheric pressure. We sometimes refer to things as being “light as air,” but the truth…

19 Dec

0

Two Balloon Experiment

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Two identical balloons are inflated to different diameters and connected by means of a tube. A valve controls the flow of air through the tube.   Guess what will happen when I open the valve? a) The smaller balloon will get bigger b) The smaller balloon will get smaller c) The balloons will become the same size   When the valve is opened, this allows air to flow between the balloons. The smaller balloon then gets smaller and the larger balloon inflates even more. This result is surprising, since most people assume that the two balloons will have equal sizes…

19 Dec

0

Coanda effect Experiment

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When you blow into the square jug, the air has to change direction and it will follow the surface until it hits a sharp corner, at which point the flow will tend to separate from the surface of the square jug and carry on off to the sides as seen in the video.   On the other hand you blow at the circle bottle, the air will tend to stick to the surface even as the surface curves, this is called the Coanda effect. This way the air curves all the way around the circle bottle, and can blow out…

19 Dec

0

Floating Plate & Glasses experiment

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When the matches burn inside the glass, the air inside the glass warms. Warm air takes up more space than cool air. As the air inside the glass gets warmer, it expands and pushes against the sides, creating higher air pressure inside the glass than outside the glass. To restore the balance, some of the high pressure air inside tries to move towards the lower pressure air outside.   The matches burns in a combustion reaction. For the matches to stay a light, it needs a constant supply of oxygen. However, when the matches is trapped in the glass, it…