Hot Science Experiments How-Tos « Science Experiments

How To: The Best Investigatory Projects in Science: 16 Fun & Easy Ideas to Kickstart Your Project

Most of us have conducted an investigatory science project without even knowing it, or at least without knowing that's what it was called. Most science experiments performed, from elementary to high school students and all the way up to professional scientists, are investigatory projects.

How To: Make Potassium Chlorate from Ordinary Household Bleach and Salt Substitute

If you're not just a chemistry nerd, but also a firearms freak and explosives nut, then this home brew chemistry concoction is just what you need for some cheap homemade potassium chlorate. It's a mixture of potassium, chlorine and oxygen (KClO3) and is used for such things as gun primers, propellents, and explosives (when mixed with the appropriate fuel). And guess what? NurdRage is going to show you the steps for this makeshift potassium chlorate.

How To: Make potassium nitrate at home

Believe it or not, there are cheap ways to make potassium nitrate for your chemistry experiments. And the key ingredient… "sodium-free" salt.

How To: Make a mini hot air balloon with a tea bag

In this video learn how to make a mini hot air balloon. This experiment is great for kids.

How To: Make DIY Nitrogen Triiodide from ammonia & water purification iodine crystals

Nitrogen Triiodide is a very powerful contact explosive, but like most fun chemicals is not readily available to the general public cheaply. If you want some and have some chemistry skills, watch this video to learn how to make Nitrogen Triiodide at home out of household ammonia and water purification iodine crystals.

How To: Make a Monster Dry Ice Bubble

Sure it's been done before, but it never gets old. There's something magical about dry ice, bubbles, and especially the result you see when they're combined!

How To: Make a Double Heart-Shaped Homopolar Motor: The Valentine's Day Gift of Science!

Homopolar motors tend to be typecast as simplistic in nature, and that's true for the most part. The bare minimum requirements are a battery, conductor, and magnetic field, but when it comes to Valentine's Day, they're nothing short of complex.

How To: Make hydrochloric acid from salt

In this tutorial, we learn how to make hydrochloric acid from salt. First, you will pour some salt into a distil flask. After this, you will add in some concentrated sulfuric acid to the salt. Next, you will let these react with each other. You will start to see gasses bubble up and the excess hydrogen chloride gas come out through the top of the tube. To create a stronger reaction, you can add heat underneath the reaction. Then, test this by exposing it to ammonium chloride. If it's the righ...

Make Slime Without Borax: 5 Easy Recipes for Gooey Homemade Ooze

One of the only things I remember from watching Nickelodeon as a kid is the epic green slime. Looking back, I don't know what was so great about it, but every kid my age thought that being drenched in slime would be the coolest thing on earth.

How To: Make a Paper Plate Speaker That Actually Works for Under $1

Back in 2007, YouTube user HouseholdHacker posted a parody video on how to make a high-def speaker for under a buck. MythBusters took on the challenge and busted it.

How To: Turn water into ice without a freezer

Here's a fun experiment you can do that will demonstrate the effects that pressure has on the freezing point of a liquid. You will amaze your friends as you do what seems to be impossible, turning water into ice without sticking it in the freezer.

How To: Make plasma with a light bulb

Make plasma with a light bulb. All you need is a microwave.

How To: Make Vitriol (Sulfuric Acid) Using the Oxidizing & Electrochemical Methods

If you've been following the news lately, you've probably heard of the word "vitriol" being used as a political weapon, with people like celebrity left-winger Jane Fonda blaming conservatives like Sarah Palin for "vitriolic" attacks on Democrats and the "violence-provoking rhetoric of the Tea Party" movement for the recent Arizona shooting.

How To: Make boric acid from borax

This is a video tutorial in the Education category where you are going to learn how to make boric acid from borax. For this experiment you will need borax (disodium tetra borate) and conc. hydrochloric acid. Take 25 ml of hydrochloric acid and dilute it with 75 ml of water. Next take 6 - 7 gms of borax and dissolve it in boiling water. Now add equal amount of hydrochloric acid. Crystals of boric acid will start forming. They are completely insoluble in cold water. After about half an hour, fi...

How To: Reveal latent fingerprints on paper & other surfaces

In this tutorial, we learn how to reveal latent fingerprints on paper & other surfaces. The item you will need to do this is crystal iodine and plastic sheeting to protect your work surface. Place your specimen into a plastic container with the iodine, then put the top on and let sit, placing your hand under to warm it up. Within a few minutes you will see a violet color vaporizing in the container. When finished, you will be able to take out your specimen and see the fingerprints that are al...

How To: Sugar & Sulfuric Acid — A Cool Chemical Reaction

Sulfuric acid is mixed with sugar, which is attacked by the acid. The final products are carbon, water vapor, and sulfur dioxide gas.

How To: Build an electromagnet

This video demonstrates the relationship between electricity and magnetism and shows how to construct an electromagnet using a 4 inch iron nail, 5 meters of copper wire and a 1.5 volt AA battery. Electromagnetism was discovered by the Danish scientist Oersted. Electromagnetism is the science behind electric motors, solenoids, speakers and electromagnets.

How To: Light candles with a microwave oven

Say you're hosting a birthday party and the birthday girl's cake needs to be lit up, but you've just run out of matches. What to do? While you can certainly go to the store and purchase more, doing so would take at least half an hour (an eternity to wait for little kids), it's probably easier to make a flame with what you've got at home.

How To: Make Your Own Glowing Green Fluorescein (Fluorescent Dye)

Fluorescent dye can be a great addition for decorating around the house for Halloween, especially for a haunted one. Creating your own fluorescent dye is a simple experiment, as long as you've got the proper chemicals and safety gear. Nurd Rage details the chemical process of creating your own fluorescein below.

How To: Make sulfuric acid - electrochemically

You already know how to make sulfuric acid with the metabisulfite and oxidizer method and you saw how to make copper sulfate from copper and sulfuric acid, so now try making sulfuric acid with these two in mind… with sulfuric acid by electrolysis of copper using an inert anode.

How To: Restore silver with electrochemistry

Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to restore silver with electrochemistry. You can restore old silver with aluminum foil or a battery by simple electrochemistry.

How To: Make a Paperclip Float on Water

This quick video demonstrates the classic experiment of making a paperclip, or multiple paperclips, float on water.

How To: Make a simple rubbing alcohol rocket

These rockets fly! Made with just simple household rubbing alcohol, a plastic bottle, and some matches this fun task can be executed with ease. This video will deomnstrate exactly how to make a simple rubbing alcohol rocket.

How To: Make an electro-magnet with only three things

An electromagnet is a fun, cool science experiment that you can easily make at home. In this tutorial, learn how to make a powerful electromagnet with only three pieces! And the best part is, you probably already have these items in your house or garage! So, why not gather some supplies and try making an electromagnet? You will definitely impress your class and friends.

How To: Compare regular ice with liquid nitrogen-cooled ice

Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to compare regular ice with liquid nitrogen-cooled ice with Dr. Lithium.

How To: Turn a penny into gold

These guys make pennies change color in class. No, it's not real gold, and by the way - no, it's not real gold. Just watch and see how to do real alchemy, like you would in chemistry class.

How To: Build a reed instrument from a drinking straw

In this two-part science tutorial, learn how to make a DIY reed instrument! By cutting the end of a drinking straw you can make a musical reed instrument that you can actually play a tune on. Within these videos, you will also gain some insite into the science of sound and music.

How To: Boil water at room temperature in a vacuum

This is a super cool way to learn some science while combating spring break or summer break boredom. This science video teaches you how to boil water at room temperature. Obviously this won't work in the normal conditions in which you boil water. But if you place the water in a vacuum, where the atmospheric vapor pressure is lowered, water can boil at a much lower temperature.

How To: Dust and fume for fingerprints

In this scientific video tutorial, undergraduate students in a forensic chemistry lab demonstrate how to develop fingerprints using a variety of methods: Cyanoacrylate (superglue) fuming, dusting, and iodine fuming. Learn how to dust for fingerprints, just like on CSI.

How To: Use an in-sink Tesla CD turbine and magnetic coupler

This is a running demonstration of the water-pressure powered Tesla CD Turbine III and Magnetic Coupler, running smoothly and safely at up to 1000 rpm at the sink. The CD Turbine is made from recycled CD's and neodymium magnets.

How To: Perform electrolysis

Learn how to use electrolysis - the passing of an electric current through water - to get pure hydrogen and oxygen out of water.

How To: Make Soap Out of Guava Leaf Extract for a Science Investigatory Project

Unless you're a high-schooler building a nuclear fusion reactor, the hardest part of a science investigatory project often is coming up with a good idea. You want it to be cool yet feasible, novel but still useful.

How to Be Your Own SpaceX: Design, Build & Test Liquid-Fueled Rocket Engines

Move over NASA— SpaceX is taking over. Well, not really. But today, the privately funded spacecraft company broke all expectations when their Dragon capsule fell to a soft landing in the Pacific Ocean, completing an undoubtedly successful demo flight of nearly two full trips around Earth. It was the first re-entry of a commercial spacecraft ever, bringing commercial space transportation closer to reality.

How To: Work with Keto-Enol tautomerization in organic chemistry

In this free video chemistry lesson from Salman Khan, we learn about tKeto-Enol tautomerization in organic chemistry. Whether you need help studying for that next big test or could just use a hand finishing your homework, you're sure to be well served by this video lesson. For all of the details, take a look.

How To: Construct a vinegar battery and power a calculator

Using only vinegar and a few simple materials, it is possible to construct a working battery. This science video tutorial explains how to construct and use a battery like this to power a calculator. A good science project as part of an introductory electricity course. This project can be used as a science fair project or merely for fun. If you've ever wanted to make your own battery, know is the time, this science experiment will show you how.

How To: Make nitric acid

Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make nitric acid. They show three ways to make nitric acid based on two different chemical approaches, both of which can be done using easily accessible materials.

How To: Grow a crystal garden

A crystal garden is something that not everyone has. Grow a crystal garden for a science project, or grow it to add a hint of magic to your own herbal or vegetable garden. Show it off to friends and family. Watch this video to learn how to grow a crystal garden for your personal use.