Levitating Ping Pong Ball Experiment

 Age Range: 6-11

 Equipment needed: Hair dryer and a ping pong ball

 

Adult supervision is required for this experiment 

Levitating Ping Pong Ball Experiment

 

On this blog post, I shall be showing you a very fun science experiment to try and is very easy to set up as this experiment only requires two items. 

 

To do the levitating ping pong ball experiment:

 

Start by plugging in your hair dryer and ensure an adult is there to help you hold on to the hair dryer as it can be very hot.

Hold your ping pong ball over the hair dryer 

 

Turn on your hair dryer and watch what happens to the ping pong ball 

 

After you've done that, try and get the ping pong ball to move higher, lower and even to your left or right

That is the levitating ping pong ball experiment

After you've tried this experiment, try and see how many ping pong balls you could levitate and see what other items you think may cause the ping pong ball to levitate

 

Watch the levitating ping pong ball experiment video:

 

The science behind this:

The ping pong ball will fly up from the hairdryer until it reaches a point that the force of gravity pushing down on the ball is equal to the force of the air pushing up on the ball. The air coming from the hairdryer is moving much faster than the air around it. Because the air is moving faster, it has less pressure than the air around it. The ping pong ball stays within the column of low-pressure air because of the high pressure surrounding it and thus causing the ping pong ball to levitate.

Thanks guys and hope you enjoyed the post today. Be sure to try and see what other items you think will cause the ping pong ball to levitate. Be sure to leave a comment on how you found doing the levitating ping pong ball experiment and be sure to check out some of my other blog posts.😀

Light Refraction Science Experiment

  Age Range: 4-11

 Equipment needed: Glass, water, black pen and paper

Light Refraction Science Experiment

 

On this blog post, I'll be showing you a science magic trick by doing the light refraction science experiment. The results of this experiment are always very surprising. Children and adults will be amazed as to what causes the arrow in this experiment to change direction right before your very eyes.

To do the light refraction science experiment:

 Draw one arrow at the top of your paper

 

Draw another arrow at the bottom of your paper making sure both arrows point in the same direction

 

 Colour your arrows in with a black pen

 

Fill your glass with water

 

Slowly lower the piece of paper behind the glass of water

 

Look through the glass of water and see what happens.

You'll see the arrow at the bottom has now completely changed direction

The science behind this:    

This experiment is caused by a science topic called refraction. Refraction is the bending of light and occurs when light travels from one place to another. This can be air to water or water to air.

In the experiment, light traveled from the image through the air and then through the glass into the water and finally out of the glass and into the air once again before it reaches our eyes. Light refracts from one place to another because it travels at different speeds through those places. Light travels faster through air, a little slower through water and even slower through glass.

This shows that the light bends once when it travels through the glass into the water and bends again when it travels out of the glass and into the air. This is why the light paths crossed and the arrow appeared to change direction when you see it.

Watch the video to see how to do the light refraction science experiment:

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

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.😀

Ice on a String Experiment

 Age Range: 4-11

 

Equipment needed: Ice cube, salt, string, glass, water and scissors

 

Adult supervision required

Ice on a String Experiment

On this post, I will be showing a science experiment and a magic trick at the same time which is sure to impress your friends and family. You can see how to pick up ice with a single piece of string. This science experiment does require adult supervision and can help you think and learn about melting and freezing.

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

To do this experiment:

 Fill the glass to the top with water

Cut a piece of string around 20cm long

Place an ice cube in the water and it will float

Lay the string across the ice cube and glass

 Cover the ice cube and string with a layer of salt

Leave it to sit for 1 minute

 Carefully pick up both ends of the string

And there you go, you have picked up ice with a piece of string. Challenge your friends and family to see if they can do this experiment.

The science behind this:    

Salt lowers the freezing point of water to below 0 degrees. When you add salt to the ice cube, the salt lowers the melting point of the ice. The salt is in a thin layer, so it means a thin layer on top of the ice cube. The water cooled down further and re-froze around the string. This allowed the string to pick up the ice cube.

This is also why we use salt in winter to prevent roads from getting icy. The salt lowers the melting point of ice and stops roads from becoming icy and dangerous.

Watch the video to see how to do the ice on a string experiment:

 

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