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Science At Home - Build A Working Lung
Can you build a working model lung with nothing more than two balloons and an empty plastic bottle (and maybe some scissors)? Yes! You can - and Ryan shows you how!
HEY SCIENCE FANS!
You may know WHY we breathe, but do you know the science behind how we breathe? It’s fascinating! Learn how, and then build a working model lung with nothing more than two balloons and an empty plastic bottle (and maybe some scissors)? Yes! You can - and Ryan shows you how!
Boyle’s Law
Boyle’s Law (which may also be referred to as Mariotte’s law or the Boyle-Mariotte law) can be stated this way:
For a fixed amount of an ideal gas kept at a fixed temperature, pressure and volume are inversely proportional.
The math can be expressed as follows:
PV = k
where :
P = pressure
V = volume
k = a constant
What does that mean?
Simply put, the product (multiplication) of pressure and volume is a constant. If the volume increase, the pressure must decrease. If the volume decreases, the pressure must increase - assuming that temperature is held constant.
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Science At Home - Baking Soda Volcano
Hey Science Fans! Watch this video to learn how to improve on the classic baking soda and vinegar volcano!
Hey Science Fans!
Today we spice up the classic baking soda and vinegar volcano!
We’re adding food colouring, dish soap, and a special container to make a WAY better science demo!
Need a volcano of your very own? You can buy an awesome volcano fun pack here:
https://www.sasksciencecentre.com/atom-geek-shop/volcano-combo
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Science At Home - Oobleck
Hey Science fans!
Today we explore the incredible world of Oobleck!
Hey Science Fans!
What do you call a liquid that isn’t a liquid, at least all the time? The technical term is a non-Newtonian fluid, but a lot of people call it oobleck – in reference to the Dr Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck!
Centuries ago, Sir Isaac Newton proposed that fluids should behave in a constant, predictable way – think about water. If you’re swimming, it doesn’t matter if you’re swimming fast or slow, the water will always flow around you. Liquids that behave this way are called Newtonian Fluids. However, not all fluids behave this way. We call these fluids non-Newtonian fluids, and we’re going to show you how to make some today!
You’ll need a pie plate, some cornstarch, and some water. Feel free to add some food coloring if you like.
Start with a cup of cornstarch and then slowly add water until the cornstarch is no longer grainy – you’ll probably need about ¾ of a cup, but your results may vary. As you slowly mix the cornstarch and water, you’ll *think* you’re creating a normal fluid – you can move your spoon freely, and even scoop it and pour it. But, if you slap the top of the dish with your hand – it’s suddenly a solid! You can even pick it up and create a ball with it in your hands, but as soon as you stop applying pressure it falls apart and runs through your fingers!
So, what’s the science here? As you apply force to the oobleck it become MORE viscous. The particles of cornstarch get jammed into each other, trapping the water molecules between them and preventing them from flowing the way they normally would. Scientists don’t ACTUALLY know all the details about why or how this works! But there is significant interest in oobleck because there are a lot of potential uses. For example, it could be used to make very comfortable body armor for first responders, or even a fast, temporary filling for potholes!
Cornstarch and water aren’t the only non-Newtonian fluids, or even the most famous. In fact, if you’ve ever eaten French fries, you probably know about another - ketchup! Ketchup is also a non-Newtonian fluid – but instead of getting thicker under pressure like the cornstarch mixture does, ketchup gets thinner! That’s why it’s easier to get ketchup out of a plastic squeeze bottle than it is to get it out of a glass bottle.
Try this demonstration for yourself - and share your results below!
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Science At Home - Red Cabbage Indicator
Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, a pigment that changes colour when mixed with an acid or a base. When blended, red cabbage produces a purple liquid, but it changes to red or pink when mixed with an acid and blue or green when mixed with a base.
Have you ever heard the term pH? The letters pH stand for potential Hydrogen. The pH scale is used to measure whether substances are acidic or basic in reference to the amount of hydrogen ion activity in the substance. A pH of 7 is considered neutral and represents materials such as water. A substance with a pH less than 7 is considered acidic, while a substance with a pH higher than 7 is considered basic.
You may need to measure the pH of a substance if you are testing the water in a swimming pool or hot tub, are checking your soil before planting in the spring, or if you’re just curious! Scientists have many different ways of testing pH, but one of them can be created by you at home!
Testing pH At Home
Red cabbage contains anthocyanin, a pigment that changes colour when mixed with an acid or a base. When blended with water, red cabbage produces a purple liquid but it changes to red or pink when mixed with an acid, and blue or green when mixed with a base.
You’ll need some red cabbage leaves, water, a blender, and a strainer. You’ll also need some containers to perform the test. Paper cups work great! You’ll also need a parent to help you be safe!
Next, you need materials to test - we’re using vinegar and baking soda. Avoid using bleach, as it can cause a dangerous reaction if it’s accidentally mixed with other substances such as vinegar or ammonia.
Fill the blender about half full with water then add a few red cabbage leaves. Put the lid on the blender and have an adult blend the cabbage leaves thoroughly. Pour through a strainer and collect the cabbage water.
Take three test containers and add some of the cabbage water to each. Notice the colour of the liquid.
Leave the middle container alone - this is your control.
Add vinegar to one container - what happens to the liquid? What does this indicate?
Mix some baking soda and water, then add this mixture to the third container. What color does the cabbage juice change to? What does this indicate?
What else can you test?
Look for things to test around your home. What happens if you test your soil, shampoo, or orange juice?
You can also soak strips of paper cut from a coffee in filter in the cabbage juice and let them dry. You can now dip these strips of paper in substances to test their relative pH!
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Science At Home - Dissolving Eggshell
How do you make an egg bounce? Simple! Just remove the shell while keeping the semi-permeable membrane intact! Find out how to do that in this post!
How do you make an egg bounce? Simple! Just remove the shell while keeping the semi-permeable membrane intact! Find out how to do that below.
Hey Science FANS!
Today’s science demonstration is particularly EGG-citing. You only need two ingredients and you’ve almost certainly got those ingredients LAYING around. Don’t be chicken to give this one a try. Okay, let’s get cracking.
You’ll need an egg, a glass, and some vinegar. Simply place the egg in the glass and add vinegar to cover. Leave it to soak overnight, and then take a look at the egg. You may need to leave the egg for three days or more. Eventually, the eggshell will dissolve completely, leaving you with a “naked egg.”
Here’s how this works: the shell of an egg is made of calcium carbonate. Vinegar, which is about 4% acetic acid, reacts with the calcium carbonate. As the shell dissolves, it creates water, calcium acetate, and carbon dioxide! You can see the carbon dioxide in the little bubbles that form on the surface of the egg while it soaks.
2 CH3COOH + CaCO3 = Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2
What’s left behind is called a semi-permeable membrane. You may have noticed that the naked egg is larger than it was when it was still in the shell. That’s because the membrane allows water to pass through it – because vinegar is 96% water, some of that water has passed through the membrane and into the egg, causing it to grow!
Here’s two interesting things you can do one you have an egg without a shell.
1. Place it in a glass of water that you’ve added food coloring to. The egg with absorb the water and change colour over time!
2. Shine a flashlight through the egg – can you see the yolk?
3. Bounce them! The egg feels kind of like rubber and even bounces like a ball – be careful though! The membrane isn’t very strong, and if you bounce too hard, it will break!
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