After closing the museum, I went through an array of emotions - anger, disappointment, fear, you name it. After a while I wondered if I will ever enjoy going to a science museum again without feeling bitter and sad. It so happened, we visited Tietomaa in Oulu a few weeks ago with our son who is ofcourse my main inspiration behind museum. Except when I was chatting with Tietomaa CEO, who was exremely nice to come on a saturday, I observed that I was enjoying the science museum as if nothing has happened. I was quite glad to see we all were exploring, trying out all the exhibits and watching our son try to come up with reasons why something is working the way it is. By the Way, Tietomaa is filled with exhibits that are fun for children (and adults). After 4 hrs of fun, we had to bribe our son with a fun gift from the museum giftstore to get him out:)
After that experience, the idea to continue my new career path slowly taking shape i.e. work towards promoting "Science Is Fun". Hence this blog. Apart from sharing news on any projects I might work on, I will also share some fun science experiments to do at home with everyday ingredients you can find at home. Where possible, I will try to include some home videos of experiments as well to accompany the description. I will also try to bring news from around the world on science competitions for kids etc etc. Give hints to observe science around us in everyday things we do basically assuring science and science experiments are not just for kids:)
Let me kick off with a fun experiment we did on halloween day. Smaller kids just love the noise of it while older children can learn about inertia and sound. Parents be aware that this is a bit noisy and you might find it annoying which makes it that much more fun for the children:)
What's going on inside the balloon?
How is the noise generated inside?
Where else would you see similar motion?
Now try with a penny (or a cent) in the balloon instead of a hexnut and see what happens. Do you observe any difference?
Answers to come in the next blog entry.
Good science day to all of you.
After that experience, the idea to continue my new career path slowly taking shape i.e. work towards promoting "Science Is Fun". Hence this blog. Apart from sharing news on any projects I might work on, I will also share some fun science experiments to do at home with everyday ingredients you can find at home. Where possible, I will try to include some home videos of experiments as well to accompany the description. I will also try to bring news from around the world on science competitions for kids etc etc. Give hints to observe science around us in everyday things we do basically assuring science and science experiments are not just for kids:)
Let me kick off with a fun experiment we did on halloween day. Smaller kids just love the noise of it while older children can learn about inertia and sound. Parents be aware that this is a bit noisy and you might find it annoying which makes it that much more fun for the children:)
- Take a balloon, drop a small hexnut into it, blow the balloon and tie it. (dont blow too much or it might burst in your hands and that's not the screaming we are looking for)
- Hold the balloon with the tied end between your fingers (eg: between index finger and second finger). Little ones can hold it in both their hands.
- Move the balloon in front of you in a circular motion.
- Hear the balloon scream!
What's going on inside the balloon?
How is the noise generated inside?
Where else would you see similar motion?
Now try with a penny (or a cent) in the balloon instead of a hexnut and see what happens. Do you observe any difference?
Answers to come in the next blog entry.
Good science day to all of you.
Answer to the questions above:
ReplyDeleteThe hexagonal nut circles inside the balloon due to centripetal force. Centripetal force is the inward force on a body that causes it to move in a circular path.
The spooky sound is made by the sides of the hexagonal nut vibrating against the inside wall of the balloon.
We see similar motion in a circus where they drive motorcycles inside a globe. Under ideal conditions, the motorcycle or the hexnut in our case will go on going in circles indefinitely. But in real world, friction plays a big role in getting the nut to stop eventually.
So that’s three physics principles playing their role in that simple experiment..