11/17/11
11/16/11
11/14/11
11/13/11
11/7/11
JUMPING PENNY EXPERIMENT
Materials: glass bottle with opening no larger than a penny, one penny, bowl of ice cold water.
Dip the penny and the threads of the bottle neck in the cold water. Put the penny over the opening of the bottle and wrap hands around the bottle until the penny jumps. The heat from your hands is transferred through conduction to the air in the bottle warming the air. This causes the air molecules to move faster which makes the penny jump.
BALLOON EXPANSION EXPERIMENT
Materials: saucepan filled with hot water, oven mitts or gloves, empty glass bottle (such as a ketchup bottle), rock or a weight to hold the bottle down, balloon
Put a balloon over the top of an empty ketchup bottle (you may need to put a rock in the bottom of the bottle for weight). Place the bottle in a saucepan of hot water. The balloon should expand because the air inside the bottle gains thermal energy and the molecules move around more, filling the space inside the balloon.