Budding scientist projects

Dissolving Sugar at Different Heats

Learn about solutions as you add more and more sugar cubes to different temperature water. This
easy experiment shows that you can only dissolve a certain amount and that this changes as the water
gets hotter.


What you'll need:
Sugar cubes
Cold water in a clear glass
Hot water in a clear glass (be careful with the hot water)
Spoon for stirring

Instructions:
1. Make sure the glasses have an equal amount of water.
2. Put a sugar cube into the cold water and stir with the spoon until the sugar disappears. Repeat this process
(remembering to count the amount of sugar cubes you put into the water) until the sugar stops dissolving, you are at
this point when sugar starts to gather on the bottom of the glass rather than dissolving.
3. Write down how many sugar cubes you could dissolve in the cold water.
4. Repeat the same process for the hot water, compare the number of sugar cubes dissolved in each liquid, which
dissolved more?

What's happening?
The cold water isn't able to dissolve as much sugar as the hot water, but why? Another name for the liquids inside the cups is a
'solution', when this solution can no longer dissolve sugar it becomes a 'saturated solution', this means that sugar starts forming
on the bottom of the cup.
The reason the hot water dissolves more is because it has faster moving molecules which are spread further apart than the
molecules in the cold water. With bigger gaps between the molecules in the hot water, more sugar molecules can fit in between.




Experience Gravity Free Water
What goes up must come down right? Well try bending the rules a little with a cup of water that stays
inside the glass when held upside down. You'll need the help of some cardboard and a little bit of air
pressure.


What you'll need:
A glass filled right to the top with water
A piece of cardboard

Instructions:
1. Put the cardboard over the mouth of the glass, making sure that no air bubbles enter the glass as you hold onto the
cardboard.
2. Turn the glass upside down (over a sink or outside until you get good).
3. Take away your hand holding the cardboard.

What's happening?
If all goes to plan then the cardboard and water should stay put. Even though the cup of water is upside down the water stays in
place, defying gravity! So why is this happening? With no air inside the glass, the air pressure from outside the glass is greater
than the pressure of the water inside the glass. The extra air pressure manages to hold the cardboard in place, keeping you dry
and your water where it should be, inside the glass.







Invisible Ink with Lemon Juice
Making invisible ink is a lot of fun, you can pretend you are a secret agent as you keep all your secret
codes and messages hidden from others. All you need is some basic household objects and the
hidden power of lemon juice.

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What you'll need:
Half a lemon
Water
Spoon
Bowl
Cotton bud
White paper
Lamp or other light bulb

Instructions:
1. Squeeze some lemon juice into the bowl and add a few drops of water.
2. Mix the water and lemon juice with the spoon.
3. Dip the cotton bud into the mixture and write a message onto the white paper.
4. Wait for the juice to dry so it becomes completely invisible.
5. When you are ready to read your secret message or show it to someone else, heat the paper by holding it close to a
light bulb.

What's happening?
Lemon juice is an organic substance that oxidizes and turns brown when heated. Diluting the lemon juice in water makes it very
hard to notice when you apply it the paper, no one will be aware of its presence until it is heated and the secret message is
revealed. Other substances which work in the same way include orange juice, honey, milk, onion juice, vinegar and wine.
Invisible ink can also be made using chemical reactions or by viewing certain liquids under ultraviolet (UV) light.




What Absorbs More Heat?
When you're out in the sun on a hot summers day it pays to wear some light colored clothes, but why
is that? Experiment with light, color, heat and some water to find out.

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What you'll need:
2 identical drinking glasses or jars
Water
Thermometer
2 elastic bands or some sellotape
White paper
Black paper

Instructions:
1. Wrap the white paper around one of the glasses using an elastic band or sellotape to hold it on.
2. Do the same with the black paper and the other glass.
3. Fill the glasses with the exact same amount of water.
4. Leave the glasses out in the sun for a couple of hours before returning to measure the temperature of the water in
each.

What's happening?
Dark surfaces such as the black paper absorb more light and heat than the lighter ones such as the white paper. After
measuring the temperatures of the water, the glass with the black paper around it should be hotter than the other. Lighter
surfaces reflect more light, that's why people where lighter colored clothes in the summer, it keeps them cooler.





Egg Bubbles
This fun science experiment for kids focuses on some of the interesting characteristics of eggs. Prove
the existence of a small air pocket inside an egg as well as thousands of small holes in the shell called
pores, while learning what air does as it is heated.

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What you'll need:
A clear glass or jar
Hot water (adult supervision is a good idea when using hot water)
An egg
A magnifying glass

Instructions:
1. Place the egg carefully into the glass or jar.
2. Carefully pour hot water into the glass or jar until it is nearly full.
3. Leave the glass or jar on a table or flat surface and watch the egg closely for a few minutes (the glass may become hot
so be careful).
4. Use your magnifying glass to closely examine what is happening.

What's happening?
After surrounding the egg with hot water you will notice tiny bubbles forming on the egg shell which eventually bubble their way to
the surface.
An egg contains a small air pocket at its larger end between the shell and egg white. When the air trapped inside this small
pocket begins to heat up it expands and tries to find a way out of the shell, but how does it escape?
They're too small to see under normal conditions but with the help of a magnifying glass you can see that egg shells contain
thousands of small holes called pores (human skin has pores too).
The pores allow air to pass through the shell, making it look like the egg is breathing as the air expands and is forced through the
shell.


Making Music with Water

Have you ever tried making music with glasses or bottles filled with water? I bet you favourite band
hasn't. Experiment with your own special sounds by turning glasses of water into instruments, make
some cool music and find out how it works.
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What you'll need:
5 or more drinking glasses or glass bottles
Water
Wooden stick such as a pencil

Instructions:
1. Line the glasses up next to each other and fill them with different amounts of water. The first should have just a little
water while the last should almost full, the ones in between should have slightly more than the last.
2. Hit the glass with the least amount of water and observe the sound, then hit the glass with the most water, which
makes the higher sound?
3. Hit the other glasses and see what noise they make, see if you can get a tune going by hitting the glasses in a certain
order.

What's happening?
Each of the glasses will have a different tone when hit with the pencil, the glass with the most water will have the lowest tone
while the glass with the least water will have the highest. Small vibrations are made when you hit the glass, this creates sound
waves which travel through the water. More water means slower vibrations and a deeper tone.






Use a Straw to Stab a Potato
Is it possible to stab a potato with a drinking straw? Find out with this fun science experiment for kids
that shows how air pressure can be used in surprising ways.

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What you'll need:
Stiff plastic drinking straws
A raw potato

Instructions:
1. Hold a plastic drinking straw by it sides (without covering the hole at the top) and try quickly stabbing the potato, what
happens?
2. Repeat the experiment with a new straw but this time place your thumb over the top, covering the hole.

What's happening?
Placing your thumb over the hole at the top of the straw improves your ability to pierce the potato skin and push the straw deep
into the potato. The first time you tried the experiment you may have only pierced the potato a small amount, so why are you
more successful on the second attempt?
Covering the top of the straw with your thumb traps the air inside, forcing it to compress as you stab the straw through the potato
skin. This makes the straw strong enough to pierce the potato, unlike the first attempt where the air is pushed out of the straw.







Purpose
To demonstrate the principle of buoyancy of warm air.

Additional information
The density variation between warm and cool air can be used to explain why warm air possesses
higher buoyancy. As hot air contain atoms and molecules with higher kinetic energy than cold air, it
has a lower density and rises up while the colder air goes downwards. In other words, cool air sinks
down displacing the warm air.

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Required materials
Balloon
Cardboard
String
A pair of scissors

Estimated Experiment Time
Less than 5 minutes

Step-By-Step Procedure
1. Inflate a balloon with warm air and secure tightly with the string
2. Tie a small piece of cardboard to the end of the balloons string
3. Adjust the size of the cardboard so that it is heavy enough to keep the balloon from rising
4. Use a pair of scissors and start trimming off small pieces of the cardboard so that the balloon rises
above the surface but does not float away and touch the roof

Note
Use a closed room where air currents will not alter the course of the experiment.
Ensure the pieces of cardboard you cut are extremely small in order to save time redoing the exercise!

Observation
When the right amount of cardboard is cut away, the balloon remains suspended in midair.

Result
The principle behind the experiment is that cool air is heavier and denser than warm air which has a
greater degree of buoyancy. The balloon thus remains suspended in the lower part of the room
where the air is denser as compared to the areas around the roof which will have comparatively
warmer air. The piece of cardboard balances the weight of air contained in the balloon making it too
light to sink into denser air (near the surface / floor of the room) and is too heavy to rise into the
warmer air (towards the roof of the room).


























Recently, the scientists at Spangler Labs had a day where they recollected their fond memories of
elementary school. Some thought back to their favorite science or math class, but Steve was excited
about the playground equipment. He loved the monkey bars, the swings, and even loved to play
tetherball.
But, he recalled, his favorite thing to do on the playground was seesaw. Steve's memories even included
a daredevil stunt where he seesawed while the seesaw was on fire. He was a regular elementary Evil
Knievel. Looking back on his seesaw expertise, it hit him...what if he could use some amazing science
principles to make a magic seesaw?
Materials
Pointed-tip scissors
2 small birthday candles
3 paper clips
Ruler
2 oz plastic cup
Thumbtack
2 straws
Matches or lighter
Newspaper or surface you don't mind getting wax on
Adult supervision

EXPERIMENT
1. Using the pointed end of the scissors, poke a hole into the bottom of the 2 ounce plastic cup. The hole
should be just big enough to slide in the end of one of the straws.
2. When you have the hole in the cup, slide the end of a straw in so that it is sturdy and able to stand.
3. Using the ruler, find the middle of the remaining straw. Once you have found the middle of the straw,
poke a hole through it using the thumbtack. Try to keep the thumbtack level as you poke through the
straw.
4. Take one of the paper clips and straighten out the smaller loop so that it is almost straight. Take the end
of the straightened side and bend it upwards. The shape you end up with should look like an "L"
connected with a "J."
5. Slide the "L" end of the paperclip you just bent through the straw where you punched the holes. Slide the
paperclip so that the straw is at the bottom of the "L."
6. Now take the "J" side of the bent paper clip and put it into the top of the straw opposite the cup. Your
apparatus should look like a seesaw now.
7. Insert the flat "wickless" end of the candles into the two ends of the seesaw straw. To keep the candles in
place, paperclip the outside of the straw.
8. Balance the seesaw by sliding the two candles in or out of the straw.
9. Now that you're balanced, set your apparatus on a surface that you don't mind getting candle wax on,
light both of the candles, and watch the magic happen.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Magic Candle Seesaw is actually based on the physics of Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law. The law
states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, this law of physics
makes jet flight possible. The propulsion from the back of a jet makes the jet itself move forward. The
initial action is the jet propulsion, the equal and opposite reaction is the movement of the jet.
So what makes this law apply to the Magic Candle Seesaw? It's actually much simpler and on a much
smaller scale than the jet example above. If you carefully watch the end of the seesaw that is closer to the
ground, you'll notice a drop of wax fall. Believe it or not, this one drop of wax falling is the action that
creates an equal and opposite reaction of the seesaw's upward motion. Amazing, right?
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Magic Candle Seesaw is actually based on the physics of Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law. The law
states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, this law of physics
makes jet flight possible. The propulsion from the back of a jet makes the jet itself move forward. The
initial action is the jet propulsion, the equal and opposite reaction is the movement of the jet.
So what makes this law apply to the Magic Candle Seesaw? It's actually much simpler and on a much
smaller scale than the jet example above. If you carefully watch the end of the seesaw that is closer to the
ground, you'll notice a drop of wax fall. Believe it or not, this one drop of wax falling is the action that
creates an equal and opposite reaction of the seesaw's upward motion. Amazing, right?
- See more at: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/magic-candle-see-saw-sick-
science#sthash.bV8IqONz.dpuf


Bouncing balls
If you dropped the balls at the same time, the tennis ball should bounce off the basketball and fly high into
the air. The two balls hit each other just after they hit the ground, a lot of the kinetic energy in the larger
basketball is transferred through to the smaller tennis ball, sending it high into the air.