Keeping Paper Dry Underwater Experiment

Age Range: 5-11

Equipment: Paper towel, empty glass and a bucket or tub of water 

 

Keeping Paper Dry Underwater Experiment 

 

 On this blog post, I'll be showing you a science trick by showing you how to keep a paper towel dry whilst underwater. You may think this is impossible but actually it is very possible and it takes a little science fun to make it happen!!

 

For this experiment, you'll need the following from the image below:

 

 

To do this experiment: 

 

Tear off a piece of paper towel

 

Place your paper towel in to the bottom of your empty glass. Make sure the paper towel is at the bottom of your glass and is completely pushed down inside the glass 

Turn the glass over and make sure the paper towel is held at the top. 

No part of the paper should be above the rim of the glass.

If the paper towel does slip down, push it back up inside the glass

Submerge the glass under the water with your paper towel inside it

Make sure the glass is completely under the water

Lift the glass out of the water

Pull the paper towel out of the glass

You will find the paper towel to be completely dry and that is how you keep paper dry underwater

The science behind this:

 

You will not be able to see it but air is made up of matter. Due to the air being made of matter, it now has mass and volume. The volume takes up space and so this experiment shows the air's volume.

 

When the glass is placed in the water, air is trapped inside of the glass because of the water pushing up from below. Air is less dense than water and so is able to stay on top of the water. The paper towel will not get wet as long as the air stays in the glass. Even slightly if you tip the glass, this experiment may not work as the air will get trapped and thus the paper towel getting wet due to the water rushing in.

 

Thanks guys and hope you enjoyed the post today. Be sure to leave a comment on how you found doing the keeping paper dry underwater experiment and be sure to check out some of my other blog posts.😀