Use Liquid Starch to Make Gooey Slime.

Making slime is easy. Just mix equal parts of glue and water and then add an equal part of liquid starch. Just like that you have gooey slime. The more you play with it the more fun it becomes. This acclivity causes the polymer chains in the glue to cross link with chemicals in the starch. The result is an awesome stretchy slime.

CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Classic Slime!

When you think of slime, you probably think of this transparent slime made using polyvinyl alcohol and borax solution. Since it can be hard to find the supplies used to make this slime, we offer kits to help you out.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR SLIME MAKING KITS.

Do You Eat Magnetic Cereal?

Look at the box your cereal comes in. If it says it has 100% of your daily recommended supply of iron, then this experiment will work for you, too. But you will also need a very powerful magnet. In this video I used as series of small neodymium magnets which are usually available in science supply catalogs. Our body uses iron to carry out cell production and made our blood. Iron is a mineral, and the iron found in your cereal used to be in the ground. Yum!

Make Your Own Erupting Volcano

This is a classic experiment and it is very easy to do at home. So after you watch it – TRY IT! All you need is some kind of model volcano, and then a little vinegar and some baking soda from the supermarket. Add color and dish soap and you’re ready to go! This demonstration shows an acid base reaction. In this kind of reaction, the acid (vinegar) chemically reacts with the base (the baking soda) and the two release carbon dioxide gas which bubbles out. The liquid soap helps make the “lava” foamy.

CLICK HERE FOR EXPERIMENT INSTRUCTIONS

So Cold It Boils?

Take a deep breath. The air you breathed in is mostly made of of a gas called nitrogen. When liquid nitrogen is made, it loses lots of its energy that it had when it was a gas. When it loses energy, its gets COLD – we’re talking -320 degrees fahrenheit cold. So why does it boil? Compared to the super-cold liquid nitrogen, the TV studio was really, really hot; hot enough for the nitrogen to boil. Liquid nitrogen would even boil in Antarctica!

As for the balloon…my breath was always in the balloon, but the carbon dioxide from my breath uses less space when it gets super cold, so the balloon shrank as the carbon dioxide inside the balloon compressed – cool huh?

It Really Sounds Like a Chicken!

Have fun with your friends and family when you build this little device that sounds just like a chicken. This is also a great example of how sounding boards work. The cup makes the vibrations louder while the wet paper towel provides friction to create the sound.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CHICKEN CUP INSTRUCTIONS.

Sound Like a Duck or a Fog Horn!

All sounds are created by vibrations. You can discover this next time you’re out at a fancy restaurant. All you need is that straw in your soda and a pair of scissors. Makes sure you flatten it out really good to make this work, then make sure you parent tip your server well.

CLICK HERE FOR STRAW INSTRUMENT INSTRUCTIONS.

This wire has a better memory than I do.

This is cool stuff. It’s called memory wire, or more specifically, nitinol wire. To perform this trick, I “programmed” the wire by bending it into the shape of the word “LIME.” Then I heated the wire using a butane flame. It took a while, but when I was all done, I could bend the wire into any shape and then just put it in hot water and I get the word “LIME” right back! Scientists are finding way to create motors using the heating and cooling properties of nitinol.

Paper Clips Can’t Float.

It’s true, paperclips cannot float in water, but they can appear to float when suspended on the surface tension of water. Surface tension is like a “skin” on the surface of the water where water molecules bond together. With a steady hand, you can get a paperclip to suspend itself on the surface of the water. In this video, we also used a Japanese yen coin which is made of lightweight aluminum. How much weight can the surface tension of water hold? Don’t just sit there, go try for yourself and find out!

CLICK HERE FOR THE FLOATING PAPERCLIP INSTRUCTIONS

Magic and Science Unite!

Sometimes magic and science work hand in hand as in this example of the vanishing water. This trick uses a super absorbent polymer. The polymer powder that was added to the cup acts like thousands of tiny sponges that expand when they get wet. The polymer can hold over 300 times its own weight in water. But the powder was not invented for magic tricks, it was invented for diapers! When super absorbent polymers are in use, no more leaky diapers.

Light Bulbs Glow Without Wires.

This video shows how regular fluorescent lightbulbs can glow when brought close to a plasma ball found in many novelty shops. The bulbs glow because the electricity in the plasma globe is sent from the center of the ball at high frequencies, similar to radio waves. The gas inside of fluorescent bulbs react the the high frequency electricity and they begin to glow!

What does 500,000 volts look like?

Imagine if every hair on your head was trying to get away from every other hair on your head. You would look a lot like Lewis in this video. Static is a kind of charge created by tiny parts of atoms called electrons. Electron repel away from each other. When Lewis’ hair got charged, the electrons on each hair repelled away from the electrons on other hair and Lewis ended up looking awesome!

So how can 500,000 volts be safe? Why didn’t Lewis get fried? The static electricity created by this generator (and by your feet rubbing on the carpet) has very little power moving it. In fact, static means “not moving.” It also mean that the static electricity in not strong enough to get into your body. It stays on the outside of your body until you touch the ground, and then it safely travels into the earth. Static electricity can have enough voltage to be dangerous. Lightning is static electricity with 100,000,000 volts!

CLICK HERE FOR THE STATIC SODA CAN EXPERIMENT

Fun With Foam

Foam is fun! Check out this video to see our Fantastic Foamy Fountain in action. The experiment uses Hydrogen peroxide and dry yeast. Hydrogen peroxide is similar to water but it has an extra oxygen atom. This makes it more dangerous and only adults should handle the hydrogen peroxide.

When you add the yeast, it acts as a catalyst (a helper) to release the extra oxygen gas and the soap helps to create all the foam. Try it out yourself!

The second experiment with the giant foam eruption at the end used a more powerful hydrogen peroxide and a different chemical for a catalyst. The reaction happens very fast and gives off quite a bit of heat. It’s pure foam fun! I mean pure science.