Experiments

Create a Sunset

Here's what you'll need...
  • Flashlight
  • Clear plastic or glass container
  • ¼ cup of milk (this can be anything from skim to cream, doesn’t matter)
  • 2 gallons of water (this may vary depending on the size of your container)

First fill the container with water about ¾ full. I used 2 gallons of water but this may vary with the size of your container. I used a large plastic pretzel container but a 10 liter fish tank works well too. Next pour and stir ¼ cup of milk into the water.

Place the flashlight on the side of the container. When you observe the beams of light from the side you’ll see a bluish tint. Move the flashlight to face you, the beam should look orange or red. The more milk you add the more dramatic the colors will appear.

Read more: Create a Sunset

 

Centrifugal Challenge

Here's what you'll need...
  • wine glass
  • marble or spherical object
  • second glass or cup

The challenge is to place a marble into a container while only touching the wine glass. The player cannot touch anything else with their hands!

When setting up this experiment or challenge, the marble can be anything spherical that can easily fit inside of the wine glass. The glass does have to be a wine glass or something similar in shape. The glass has to have an outward curve, meaning the rim of the glass needs to be smaller then the glass itself.

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Zoom Ball

Zoom Ball
Here's what you'll need...
  • 2 identical bottles
  • 20 ft (7 m) plastic cord
  • Tape (electrical or duct work best)
  • Sharp knife
  • Scissors (if needed for tape)
  • Adult supervision!

Toys are full of physics. You can make this zoom ball to illustrate inertia and Newton’s laws of motion.

To start, you’ll need two identical soda or water bottles, rinsed out. It’s best if the middle part of the bottle is a normal tube, and is not indented. Using an adult and a sharp knife (like an exacto knife) cut off the bottom of the bottles. If the bottom is wider than the middle, cut off the entire base.

Next, cut two more rings of plastic off of each bottle. The exact width doesn’t matter, as long as they are wide enough to use as handles but still leave some of the bottle left over for the “ball” part of the activity. My handles were a little under an inch (2 cm) in width.

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Water in a Balloon

Here's what you'll need...
  • 2 Balloons, uninflated
  • 1-2 tablespoons of water
  • Flame (a lighter, candle, or matches)
  • Adult Supervision

We’ve all been surprised or startled by a popped balloon. A balloon can pop for many different reasons, but this experiment shows one scientific way to delay a balloon from popping using water.

Assemble all of your materials. Begin by inflating the first balloon and tying off the end. After you pour 1-2 tablespoons of water in the uninflected balloon you may proceed to fill it with air as well. For this next part, make sure you have an adult to help with the flame.

Touch the first balloon to the flame. The plastic of the inflated balloon is so thin, taut, and NOT heat resistant. The rising heat from the flame may cause your balloon to pop even before the flame touches the balloon itself.

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Balancing Can

Here's what you'll need...
  • Soda Can
  • water (or left over soday)

First take the soda can and empty it out. (you can drink it you can poor it out what ever you would like) You can either leave about 100ml of soda in the can or you can poor about 100ml of water into the can, either one will work.

Then very gently place the can so that it is balancing on the side of the bottom silver colored can. Assuming there is a liquid in the can it will balance diagonally.

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The Scientific Method & Apple Oxidation (Part II)

Here's what you'll need...
  • 4 apple slices
  • 4 small cups
  • 4 larger containers, that can hold the cups
  • 1 medium dish to fit in one container
  • Vinegar
  • Baking Soda
  • Candle and ligter/match
  • Aluminum foil

Last week, we used the scientific method to explore apple oxidation. Our results didn’t make sense to me, so I analyze what we did last week and went back to the drawing board. Here’s the changes we made to our experiment:
- One of the surprises the first time was that the apples didn’t brown as much as expected. This time, I used a different kind of apple and took extra care to make the slices the same size.
- In an effort to capture more of the carbon dioxide bubbles released by the baking soda and vinegar reaction, I put the vinegar into a shallow dish. The bubbles caused it to overflow (as expected) but not enough come in contact with the apple slice. We also took care to not move the container, so that we didn't spill any CO2.
- To see if merely covering the apples is keeping them from browning, I added a fourth container that we left uncovered.

Read more: The Scientific Method & Apple Oxidation (Part II)

   

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