Hot Science Experiments How-Tos
How To: Perform some easy air and water tricks
Ever wonder how a tree gets water all the way up to the top? Ever thought about how a stream of air can hold a ping pong ball in place? This simple how-to shows you a few experiments to try with air and water.
How To: Create fun fog tricks with dry ice
Ahh, it's a real pea souper! Well, it could be if you get your hands on some dry ice and check out these home science experiments. You can make some fun fog tricks if watch this how-to and follow along.
HowTo: Make Instant Fog
What happens when you toss boiling water into the -30 degrees celsius, bitter cold Canadian air? Instantaneous "fog" (AKA a big vapor cloud of awesomeness).
How To: Make an air battery of out of zinc
This is a great science project! For this, you will be able to make an air battery using zinc. You will also need a paper towel, some steel wool, and an electrolyte solution. An air battery can keep for decades as long as it's dry.
How To: Make a battery at home out of table salt and aluminum
For this tutorial, you will need some water, table salt, a few square feet of aluminum foil, a needle, some steel wool, a pair of wired alligator clips, a thick paper towel and a voltmeter to test out your new battery.
How To: Mutilate Candy Gummy Bears with Exploratory Science Experiments
Who could resist a gummy bear? Those rubbery little candy creatures shaped like a bear are just too cute and too delicious to pass up. If you can't get any enjoyment out of those gelatin-based confectioneries, then you're simple not human. Even scientists love them, but not for their seductively sweet properties...
How To: Freeze a gummi bear in liquid nitrogen and shatter it
If you've ever taken high school chemistry, you may already be familiar with the ability of liquid nitrogen to freeze soft object so hard that they will shatter. This video will teach you a fun experiment utilizing this property of liquid nitrogen. It invovles gummi bears frozen and soaked in water or liquid nitrogen (or not, for the control) and then smashed in a most satisfying way.
How To: Use Gummi Bears to demonstrate osmosis and crystallization
Gummi Bears are great for science experiments due to their gelatinous makeup. In this video you will learn how NOT to make a Gummi Bear conduct electricity, but in fact how to use them to demonstrate osmosis and crystallization by preparing them for conductivity.
How To: Liquefy a Gummy Bear with high-frequency sound waves using a sonicator
A sonicator is a scientific device used to liquefy cells in order to study their proteins. The same tool can also be used to liquefy other things, including Gummy Bears! This video will show you how to use a sonicator to destroy a Gummy Bear completely in a very scientific way.
How To: Perform various candle tricks based on scientific techniques
Here are some simple and fun tricks you can do at home with candles to astound and impress your friends and family. Create an extinguisher using baking soda and vinegar, use smoke to relight a candle and create a vacuum using a candle.
How To: Use electrochemical principles to grow small silver metal crystals
This is a great school project or weekend fun. Grow some silver crystals that you can see under a microscope! Use the princples of electrochemistry to create crystals out of silver metal, and watch them grow right before your eyes.
How To: Create a simple, spiraling heat motor with rising hot air
Know someone who's full of hot air? Grab them and make a heat motor with this cool home science experiment with Mr. G. When air is heated, it rises. This experiment uses that natural law to create a simple, spiraling heat 'motor'.
How To: Bend a stream of water with this home science experiment
In this rapid fire video, Mr. G introduces us to the idea of atoms, static electricity, and opposing charges. We've all seen a balloon pick up static electricity from a wool sweater and stick to a wall, but watch how the same charged balloon can bend water! For this experiment you'll need a balloon, a wool sweater and a running tap.
How To: Explore Bernoulli's Principle with this simple home science trick
Bernoulli's Principle states that when an incompressible fluid moves through different sizes of tube, the fluid's speed changes. This simple do it yourself science experiment presented by Mr. G shows this plain and simple.
How To: Explore potential and kinetic energy with this rocket balls experiment
Have you got the balls for this experiment? You'll need at least 4; a basketball, tennis ball, squash ball and simple rubber ball. With these in hand, Mr. G will show you how to experiment with potential and kinetic energy while launching these suckers nearly into outer space. 3, 2, 1.... blast off!
How To: Weld plastic bottle caps together to make your own water vortex
Forget a message in a bottle, how about your own water vortex!? This simple, step-by-step video shows you how to 'weld' two plastic bottle caps together so you have a tight, dry seal for your very own home water vortex. You'll need a heating element, a non-stick pan, some 2 liter plastic bottles and several extra plastic bottle caps. Now you can hold a vortex in your very own hand.
How To: Weigh something you can't see with this cool science trick
With this cool science trick by Mr. G, learn how to weigh something you can't even see! Using a stick, some string and two balloons, you can see in your very own home that air, invisible as it is, has weight. This is a good example to show atmospheric pressure.
How To: Impress people during the holidays with scientific tricks
Magically get a hardboiled egg into (and out of) a bottle, make a star using toothpicks and challenge someone in a brain teaser using wooden matches. Mr. G demonstrates how in this video tutorial and, for all the eager students whose brains are brimming with curiosity, explains the science behind it all.
HowTo: Grow Your Own Snowflakes
CalTech's Kenneth Libbrecht reveals the sublime beauty of snow crystals when photographed with a specially designed snowflake photomicroscope. The physicist is author of the Field Guide to Snowflakes and The Secret Life of a Snowflake, and recently posted an instructional guide for growing your own snow crystals.
How To: Watch the Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight (Dec. 20-21, 2010)
Umbra, penumbra. Not exactly abracadabra, but if you've taken an astronomy class, you know exactly what the umbra and penumbra are. And any Earthling would agree that the umbra is the best place to be during a solar or lunar eclipse.
How To: Hunt and find fallen meteorites from a meteor shower
The Geminid meteor shower 2010 is tonight, climaxing sometime between midnight and dawn Tuesday. Usually, the Geminid meteor showers in December are awesome spectacles, one of the most intense meteor showers of the year, but this year the moon will be out until after midnight, lessening visibility. But just because you can't see the meteor shower this year, doesn't mean a meteorite or two didn't sneak into Earth's atmosphere, hurdling to the ground, waiting for you to find it. So, get your me...
How To: Use dry ice for cool science tricks, including making acid and freezing stuff
If you ever had a cool high school chemistry teacher, they probably demonstrated for you how dry ice can freeze everyday objects. But oh, it can do so much more and freeze so many more interesting things. This video will show you some fun dry ice tricks you can do, from making water acidic to freezing pure alcohol to making tomatoes so hard you can smash them with a hammer.
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: Detect poisonous arsenic levels using the toxicological Marsh test
Was Napoleon's death really due to stomach cancer, or was it arsenic poisoning? Some scientist believe the latter. Arsenic poisoning was a deadly weapon in that era, because it was undetectable when administered over a long period of time, making murder seem like natural causes. But if arsenic (As) is poisonous to most multicellular life, then what's with the newest NASA discovery?
How To: Empty a large water bottle in two seconds with a straw
Bottled-beer chuggers the world over already know that letting air into your beverage with a straw makes it pour faster into your mouth. Did you know, however, that the same technique can be modified and used to empty a fluid into another container (or onto the floor) even more quickly? This video will show you how to use a modified straw technique to introduce air into a large bottle of water or other drink bottle, causing the contents to empty at a torrid pace.
How To: Make Bullets? Make it Rain Molten Lead
In 1782, an English plumber named William Watts came up with a clever method for making shotgun ammo. Watts constructed a six story "shot tower", consisting of a series of perfectly lined up holes, drilled into all six floors of the structure. Watts then poured molten lead through a sieve from the top story, through the holes of each floor, finally landing on the bottom floor in a pool of water. The cushioned impact resulted in a perfectly formed bullet.
How To: Perform 10 awesome science magic party tricks
The best part of science class for many was the awesome demonstrations and experiments teachers use to demonstrate scientific principles. This video will teach you how to capture some of that magic by performing ten awesome science party / magic tricks, like relighting a match with smoke and rolling a can around on it's rim.
How To: Make hydrazine sulfate with the hypochlorite and the Ketazine process
Hydrazine sulfate has many uses, but most notably, it's been used under the trade name of Sehydrin, a treatment for anorexia, cachexia and some even think cancer. But for we DIY chemists, it's useful for something entirely different— as a substitute for the more dangerous pure liquid hydrazine in chemical reactions. NurdRage shows you how to make it via some hypochlorite and the Ketazine process.
HowTo: Measure the Distance from the Earth to the Moon
Measuring the distance from the Earth to the moon doesn't require NASA equipment. The ancient Greeks did it, which means 2,000 years later, you can do it, too.
How To: Make a candy DNA model
In this video we learn how to make a candy DNA model. First, purchase some black licorice and another color. Grab two each from the pack and then purchase some gummy bears. After this, pick out four different colors from the gummy bears bag. Take your scissors and put the licorice together. Cut one inch pieces so you end up with six of them. These will represent the sugars in the molecules. Once you do this, you will take the string and push it through the holes that are in the licorice. Laye...
How To: Do an animal blubber (fat) glove experiment
In this video, we learn how to do an animal blubber (fat) glove experiment. You will need: a big bowl with ice water in it, 4 plastic bags, thermometers, and some vegetable shortening. To start, you will take the shortening and scoop it into plastic bag and then stick one of your hands in it. After this, stick two bags over your opposite hand with the temperature into it. Then, you will stick each of your hands in the ice water and see which one lasts longer in the ice water. The fat should k...
How To: Make a rocket with your kid
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a rocket with your kid. First, go to a craft store and buy a starter set that has all the parts for the rocket inside of it. After this, you can take all the parts out of it and grab the directions out of it. Use the directions to help your child make the rocket and get together with groups if you want to make a day of it. After you make the rocket, you and your kid can set it off with the others or alone in an open space! Have fun and enjoy making these!
How To: Experiment with dry ice
In this tutorial, we learn how to experiment with dry ice. You can buy dry ice from any grocery store, so grab that and you will also need some soap. After this, grab the dry ice with some thick gloves and set aside. Then, put some hot water inside of a container with some soap. Put the dry ice last inside of the container. After you're finished, you can wait to see the reaction occur! It will start to smoke and make different noises which is fun to watch and see! When done, clean up your are...
How To: Test for boron with curcumin
Want to test whether the soil sample or a water sample contains boron, watch this video. As shown in the video, the first step is to create test specimens of various concentrations using a simple turmeric and ethanol solution as a base for comparison. The basis of this experiment is the fact that curumin present in turmeric reacts with boron to form a reddish compound and so the result of this reaction can easily be verified visually.
How To: Use chromatography to study plants
This video is a tutorial on how to use chromatography correctly to study plants. The tools needed to complete the task are a plant, jar or bottle, rubbing alcohol, paper coffee filter and a plastic spoon. The first step is to chop the plant up and place it into a jar followed by filling the jar with rubbing alcohol. The jar must then be placed into a pan of warm water for five full minutes. You must stir the plant matter in the alcohol until the plant causes the alcohol to change color. The l...
How To: Create a plankton science model
In this tutorial, we learn how to create a plankton science model. You will first need a clear bucket with water, modeling clay, toothpicks, sponge, beads, buttons, pipe cleaners, Styrofoam peanuts, and more. To make the plankton, you will first take the peanut and stick a toothpick into it. Then, add a paperclip on top of that to give it some weight. Drop it into the water and see if it floats or sinks. Add some more weight to it to see how much weight it takes to sink it to the bottom. Have...
How To: Build a robot that scribbles on paper
This video explains how to build a robot with the basic ability to scribble on paper. The narrator gives website addresses for more examples on completed robots and various information on the subject. The Robot is built using a plastic cups and wooden sticks for legs and support. A motor is then attached to a wooden stick which is then attached to the top of the plastic cup. One nine volt battery is needed to power the motor. Once the battery has been attached to the motor you must attach the...
How To: Make Glow Powder Out of Household Chemicals
Glowing substances have always held a powerful appeal to people, and making new ones can be a lucrative business. If you need some glow powder for a project of yours, watch this video to learn how to make DIY glow-in-the-dark powder out of normal household chemicals.
How To: Take an acid and base to make salt
In this tutorial we learn how to take an acid and base to make salt. To start, you will first need to take an acid of your choice, this can be something like vinegar. After this, you will combine the acid with a base and then wait for it to react. Once it starts to react, gases will release from them and you will end up with some salt! Be sure to put a cap on the container while the reaction is happening. This will allow the reactions to come together and the gases to react. Have fun and do t...
How To: Balance chemical equations using a simple method
In this video, we learn how to balance chemical equations using a simple method. Start out by writing your two chemicals next to each other. After this, you will need to write out how much of each atom each of the chemicals has. Now you will have a better idea of how you need to balance out each of the different equations. Make a chart of all the elements that are involved, then you can solve it. Use simple addition to add together the atoms of each and then write out the correct answer in th...