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Wednesday 12 August 2015

Wednesday 8 April 2015

18 Funny Facts About Engineers : [ALL MUST READ THIS]

1. For engineers every course apart from engineering is easy.
2. An engineer has the power of getting up at 9.25 am and reaching the class at 9.30 am.
3. T-shirt and jeans are engineer's national dress and Maggi is the national food.
4. A normal person will fix the broken things but an engineer will first break a thing and then he would fix it.
5. An engineer can build a car, spaceship and they even can make time machine. However, he just cant? build a relationship with a girl.
6. An engineer doesn't care for the rise in price of petrol or gold but he gets mad when cigarette costs Rs.5.50 instead of 5.20.
7. An engineer loves to solve a problem. If there is no problem, then he will create one and would start solving it.
8. An engineer can derive any relation just give them the final expression.
9. Are you made of copper(CU) and tellurium(TE), because you?re CUTE. This is how engineers flirt.
10. An engineers?s worst nightmare is teacher taking the class but not taking the attendance.
11. An engineer can finish his syllabus in one night.
12. An Engineer knows nothing, but only an Engineer knows this.
13. An Engineer will never sleep in night and will never wake up in morning.
14. An Engineer is the most innocent person in front of his parents.
15. Never argue with an engineer because arguing with Engineers is like killing the mosquito on your cheek, you might or might not kill it, but youll? end up slapping yourself.
16. The most common dialogue on the opening day of an engineering college is, ?Bhai, iss saal bhi koi khaas ladkiya nahi hain!?
17. No one can speak better English than an engineer who is having a bottle of beer in his hand.
18. There is always a hidden folder in engineer's laptop..

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015 QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS


(1) The 2015 Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by? - Australia and New Zealand
(2) How many teams participated in the tournament? - Fourteen teams
(3) Total how many venues were there for the 2015 Cricket World Cup? - 14
(4) When was the first and last time Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the Cricket World Cup? - 1992
(5) Who was the Ambassador of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup? - Sachin Tendulkar
(6) Which ground hosted the final match of the tournament? - Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia
(7) Which team lifted the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup? - Australia
(8) The final match was played between Australia and? - New Zealand
(9) Who was the leading run scorer (547 runs) of the Cricket world cup 2015? - Martin Guptill
10) Who scored the highest individual score of Cricket world cup 2015? - Martin Guptill (237 Runs)
(11) Which player had the highest average of Cricket world cup 2015? - Kumar Sangakkara (108.2)
(12) Which player scored the most number of 100s in Cricket world cup 2015? - Kumar Sangakkara (Four)
(13) Which players took the most number of wickets in Cricket world cup 2015? - Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult (22 wickets each)
(14) Who took the most number of wickets in a single innings ofCricket world cup 2015? - Timothy Southee (7/33 against England)
(15) Name the two players who scored double century in Cricket world cup 2015? - Martin Guptill and Chris Gayle
(16) Which is the only test playing nation that did not qualified for quarter finals? - England
(17) Who was named the player of the Tournament? - Mitchell Starc
(18) Name the two players who took a hat-trick in the World Cup 2015? - Steve Finn and JP Duminy
(19) Who scored the fastest World Cup fifty in 18 balls during this edition? - McCullum
(20) Who hit the fastest 150 in ODIs (in 64 balls) during this edition of World Cup? - AB de Villiers
(21) Which team defeated India in the Semi Finals of Cricket world cup 2015? - Australia
2(2) Who became the first Indian to score a World Cup century against Pakistan during this edition? - Virat Kohli
(24) Who was named the Man of the Match in the final of Cricket world cup 2015? - James Faulkner
(25) Who captained Australia in the Cricket world cup 2015? - Michael Clarke

Tuesday 7 April 2015

15 Uses of the Tooth Paste that you Never Know.

1) Pimples. 
Reduce redness and the size of your pimples with a dab of toothpaste. Let it sit overnight, then rinse away in the morning for a noticeable difference.
2) Brittle fingernails. 
Since our nails are made of the same enamel as teeth, toothpaste can do a lot to help them. Simply give your nails a good scrub with some toothpaste for cleaner, shinier, stronger nails. You'll also get that dirt out from underneath them in no time!
3) Fly-away hair. 
A gel toothpaste is largely made with the same ingredients as basic hair gels, so you'll be able to substitute easily here. Just use a little dab and apply like a hair gel when needed.
4) Bites, sores, and blisters. 
Apply toothpaste to areas of skin irritation to reduce itching, swelling, and irritation. Toothpaste will dry them up quickly and help them heal faster.
5) Burns. 
For minor burns with no open sores, a quick toothpaste application can give you instant relief. The cooling properties get to work right away, relieving that painful sting. In the long-term, toothpaste will keep the burn from becoming a painful, oozing blister.
6) Bruises. 
For large bruises that take forever to fade, use a little toothpaste and a wide-tooth comb. Apply the toothpaste and gently comb the bruise in one direction to break up the blood clotting beneath the skin. Toothpaste helps with circulation and fights off the inflammation.
7) Jewelry cleaner. 
Before you pay for someone else to clean it, rub toothpaste onto your silver jewelry and leave it overnight, the wipe it clean with a soft cloth. Give a light scrubbing to your diamonds to see them sparkle again, just be sure to rinse thoroughly. Avoid using toothpaste on pearls.
8) Show care. 
Scuffed or dirty shoes can look new again with a little toothpaste. Apply it directly to the dull, dirty, or scuffed parts of the shoe, scrub with a brush, and wipe them clean. Ta-da!
9) Clothing stains. 
Tough stains will disappear with a little toothpaste and some brisk scrubbing. Squeeze it right on the stain and rub until it disappears, then wash as normal. If using whitening toothpaste, be advised that this can have a bleaching effect on some colors and fabrics.
10) Computer cleaner. 
Scrub away fingerprints from your keyboard with a white, baking soda-based toothpaste. Follow up with a damp cloth and your keys are good as new!
11) Iron cleaner. 
Take away the "crusties" from the bottom of your clothes iron with a quick toothpaste rinse. Just be sure to remove all the toothpaste before you start ironing again.
12) Baby bottles. 
To freshen up baby bottles and remove that sour-milk smell, put some toothpaste on your bottle scrubber and give them a quick wash. Always rinse them very well afterwards.
13) Piano keys. 
Like computer keys, piano keys get grubby with repeated use from the dirt, oil, and grime on our fingertips. Use a damp cloth and some toothpaste to rub down the keys, then wipe them clean with a dry cloth.
14) Crayon stains. 
Undo your kids' damage to the walls with a damp cloth and some toothpaste. Rub it in gentle circles and watch the crayon fade away.
15) Odor removal.
After cooking with "stinky" foods in the kitchen (fish, garlic, onions, etc.), getting the smell out of the skin is a challenge. Wash your hands thoroughly with water and toothpaste for a quick and easy remedy.
Must share this usefull ideas with everyone.

TOP 10 Popular Websites And Their LAUNCH YEAR

1. Google : Sept 4, 1998
2. Facebook : Feb 4, 2004
3.YouTube : Feb 14, 2005
4. Yahoo ! : March 1994
5. Baidu : Jan 1, 2000
6. Wikipedia : Jan 15, 2001
7. Windows Live : Nov 1, 2005

CURRENCY ******

1. Rupee : India, Nepal, Srilanka, Pakistan
2. Dollar : u.s.a, canada, singapore, ecuador, australia, honkong, taiwan, newzealand, t&t
3. Euro : france, germany, italy, austria, belgium, cyprus, netherland, portugal, spain, vatican city
4. Pound : u.k, egypt, sudan
5. rial: iran, qutar, saudi arab, yemen, omen, combodia
6. Dinar : Algeria, iraq, kuwait, tunisia
7. Peso : Phillipines, argentina, chile, cuba, mexico,uruguay
8. Franc : cameroon, switzerland
9. Ruble : Russia, Belarus

VERY VERY USEFUL SHORT FORMS

1.) GOOGLE : Global Organization Of Oriented Group Language Of Earth .(unofficial)
2.) YAHOO : Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle .
3.) WINDOW : Wide Interactive Network Development for Office work Solution
4.) COMPUTER : Common Oriented Machine Particularly United and used under Technical and Educational Research.
5.) VIRUS : Vital Information Resources Under Siege .
6.) UMTS : Universal Mobile Telecommunications System .
7.) AMOLED: Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode
8.) OLED : Organic light-emitting diode
9.) IMEI: International Mobile Equipment Identity .
10.) ESN: Electronic Serial Number .
11.) UPS: uninterruptiblepower supply .
12). HDMI: High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface
13.) VPN: virtual private network
14.) APN: Access Point Name
15.) SIM: Subscriber Identity Module
16.) LED: Light emitting diode.
17.) DLNA: Digital Living Network Alliance
18.) RAM: Random access memory.
19.) ROM: Read only memory.
20) VGA: Video Graphics Array
21) QVGA: Quarter Video Graphics Array
22) WVGA: Wide video graphics array.
23) WXGA: Widescreen Extended Graphics Array
24) USB: Universal serial Bus
25) WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network
26.) PPI: Pixels Per Inch
27.) LCD: Liquid Crystal Display.
28.) HSDPA: High speed down-link packet access.
29.) HSUPA: High-Speed Uplink Packet Access
30.) HSPA: High Speed Packet Access
31.) GPRS: General Packet Radio Service
32.) EDGE: Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution
33.)NFC: Near field communication
34.) OTG: on-the-go
35.) S-LCD: Super Liquid Crystal Display
36.) O.S: Operating system.
37.) SNS: Social network service
38.) H.S: HOTSPOT
39.) P.O.I: point of interest
40.)GPS: Global Positioning System
41.)DVD: Digital Video Disk / digital versatile disc
42.)DTP: Desk top publishing.
43.) DNSE: Digital natural sound engine .
44.) OVI: Ohio Video Intranet
45.)CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access
46.) WCDMA: Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access
47.)GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications
48.)WI-FI: Wireless Fidelity
49.) DIVX: Digital internet video access.
50.) .APK: authenticated public key.
51.) J2ME: java 2 micro edition
53.) DELL: Digital electronic link library.
54.)ACER: Acquisition Collaboration ExperimentationReflection
55.)RSS: Really simple syndication
56.) TFT: thin film transistor
57.) AMR: Adaptive Multi- Rate
58.) MPEG: moving pictures experts group
59.)IVRS: Interactive Voice Response System
60.) HP: Hewlett Packard

DID YOU KNOW ~ LIST OF MEASURING DEVICES

• Accelerometer— Accelerations 
• Actinometer— Heating Power Of Sunlight
• Alcoholmeter— Alcoholic Strength Of Liquids.
• Altimeter— Altitude 
• Ammeter— Electric Current
• Anemometer— Windspeed
• Evaporimeter— Rate Of Evaporation
• Audiometer— Hearing
• Barkometer— Tanning Liquors Used In Tanning Leather
• Barometer— Air Pressure
• Bettsometer— Integrity Of Fabric Coverings On Aircraft
• Bevameter— Mechanical Properties Of Soil
• Bolometer— Electromagnetic Radiation
• Breathalyzer— Breath Alcohol Content
• Caliper— Distance
• Calorimeter— Heat Of Chemical Reactions
• Cathetometer— Vertical Distances
• Ceilometer— Height Of A Cloud Base
• Chronometer— Or Clock Time
• Clap-O-Meter— Volume Of Applause
• Colorimeter— Colour
• Creepmeter— Slow Surface Displacement Of An Active Geologic Fault In The Earth
• Declinometer— Magnetic Declination
• Densimeter— Specific Gravity Of Liquids
• Densitometer— Degree Of Darkness In Photographic Or Semitransparent Material
• Diffractometer— Structure Of Crystals
• Dilatometer— Volume Changes Caused By A Physical Or Chemical Process
• Disdrometer— Size, Speed, And Velocity Of Raindrops
• Dosimeter— Exposure To Hazards, Especially Radiation
• Elaeometer— Specific Gravity Of Oils
• Electrometer— Electric Charge
• Eudiometer— Change In Volume Of A Gas Mixture Following Combustion
• Evaporimeter— Rate OfbEvaporation
• Fathometer— Ocean Depth
• Galvanometer— Electricity
• Gas Pycnometer —VolumebAnd Density Of Solids
• Graphometer— Angles
• Heliometer— Variation Of ThebSun's Diameter
• Hydrometer— Specific Gravity Of Liquids (Density Of Liquids)
• Hygrometer— Humidity
• Inkometer— Ink
• Interferometer— Wave Interference

Wednesday 1 April 2015

make an electromagnet

  • A large iron nail (about 3 inches)
  • About 3 feet of THIN COATED copper wire
  • A fresh D size battery
  • Some paper clips or other small magnetic objects

  • 1. Leave about 8 inches of wire loose at one end and wrap most of the rest of the wire around the nail. Try not to overlap the wires.
  • 2. Cut the wire (if needed) so that there is about another 8 inches loose at the other end too.
  • 3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. See picture below. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery - be careful though, the wire could get very hot!)
  • 4. Now you have an ELECTROMAGNET! Put the point of the nail near a few paper clips and it should pick them up!
  • NOTE: Making an electromagnet uses up the battery somewhat quickly which is why the battery may get warm, so disconnect the wires when you are done exploring.

Most magnets, like the ones on many refrigerators, cannot be turned off, they are called permanent magnets. Magnets like the one you made that can be turned on and off, are called ELECTROMAGNETS. They run on electricity and are only magnetic when the electricity is flowing. The electricity flowing through the wire arranges the molecules in the nail so that they are attracted to certain metals. NEVER get the wires of the electromagnet near at household outlet! Be safe - have fun!

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:

1. 
Does the number of times you wrap the wire around the nail affect the strength of the nail?
2. Does the thickness or length of the nail affect the electromagnets strength?


3. Does the thickness of the wire affect the power of the electromagnet?

MAKE A LEVITATING ORB!

  • 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide PVC Pipe about 24 inches (60cm) long. You can also use a regular balloon if you do not have PVC pipe.
  • Mylar tinsel for Christmas trees. There are many types of tinsel - you should look for the thinnest and narrowest possible. The tinsel used in the video is about 1 millimeter wide. If it is much wider than that, the orb may be too heavy to levitate. (see below to get tinsel from Bob)
  • A head of clean, dry hair
  • Scissors
 
    1. Arrange 6 strands of mylar together and tie them together in a knot at one end.
    2. Tie them together again about 6 inches (15cm) from the first knot.
    3. Cut the loose mylar strands off just past each knot.
    4. Charge the PVC pipe by rubbing it back and forth through your hair for 10 seconds.
    5. Hold the mylar orb (by the knot) above the charged pipe and let it drop and touch the pipe.
    6. It should repel away and start floating. If the tinsel keeps sticking to the pipe, the tinsel is probably not thin enough and you will need to try another kind of tinsel or order some from us. (You will usually have to "recharge" the pipe before each levitation.)

It is all about static charges. Similar static charges repel away from each other. When you rub the pipe in your hair you give the pipe a negative static charge. The orb is attracted to the pipe at first because the orb has a positive charge. As soon as the orb touches the pipe, it picks up a negative charge. Since the pipe is negative and the tinsel orb is now negative, they repel away from each other and the orb levitates! The orb will also take on more of a "ball" appearance when charged since all the tinsel strands are repelling away from each other. Did you notice the orb is attracted to other objects around you - including you? That is because most objects (including you) have a positive charge.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Does the number of mylar strands affect how well the orb levitates?
2. Do different materials (hair, fur, wool) build up better static charges?
3. How long does the static charge last / how can you make it last longer?
4. Do different widths of pipe affect the floating ability of the orb?

The Incredible Hoop Glider!

  • A regular plastic drinking straw
  • 3 X 5 inch index card or stiff paper
  • Tape
  • Scissors

  • 1. Cut the index card or stiff paper into 3 separate pieces that measure 1 inch (2.5 cm) by 5 inches (13 cm.)
  • 2. Take 2 of the pieces of paper and tape them together into a hoop as shown. Be sure to overlap the pieces about half an inch (1 cm) so that they keep a nice round shape once taped.
  • 3. Use the last strip of paper to make a smaller hoop, overlapping the edges a bit like before.
  • 4. Tape the paper loops to the ends of the straw as shown below. (notice that the straw is lined up on the inside of the loops)

  • 5. That's it! Now hold the straw in the middle with the hoops on top and throw it in the air similar to how you might throw a dart angled slightly up. With some practice you can get it to go farther than many paper airplanes.


Can we really call that a plane? It may look weird, but you will discover it flies surprisingly well. The two sizes of hoops help to keep the straw balanced as it flies. The big hoop creates "drag" (or air resistance) which helps keep the straw level while the smaller hoop in at the front keeps your super hooper from turning off course. Some have asked why the plane does not turn over since the hoops are heavier than the straw. Since objects of different weight generally fall at the same speed, the hoop will keep its "upright" position. Let us know how far you were able to get the hoop glider to fly by submitting it to our BLOG PAGE.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:

1. 
Does the placement of the hoops on the straw affect its flight distance?
2. Does the length of straw affect the flight? (You can cut the straws or attach straws together to test this)
3. Do more hoops help the hoop glider to fly better?


4. Do the hoops have to be lined up in order for the plane to fly well?

blobs in a bottle

  • A clean 1 liter clear soda bottle
  • 3/4 cup of water
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Fizzing tablets (such as Alka Seltzer)
  • Food coloring

1. Pour the water into the bottle.

2. Use a measuring cup or funnel to slowly pour the vegetable oil into the bottle until it's almost full. You may have to wait a few minutes for the oil and water separate.

3. Add 10 drops of food coloring to the bottle (we like red, but any color will look great.) The drops will pass through the oil and then mix with the water below. 

4. Break a seltzer tablet in half and drop the half tablet into the bottle. Watch it sink to the bottom and let the blobby greatness begin!
5. To keep the effect going, just add another tablet piece. For a true lava lamp effect, shine a flashlight through the bottom of the bottle.

To begin, the oil stays above the water because the oil is lighter than the water or, more specifically, less dense than water. The oil and water do not mix because of something called "intermolecular polarity." That term is fun to bring up in dinner conversation. Molecular polarity basically means that water molecules are attracted to other water molecules. They get along fine, and can loosely bond together (drops.) This is similar to magnets that are attracted to each other. Oil molecules are attracted to other oil molecules, they get along fine as well. But the structures of the two molecules do not allow them to bond together. Of course, there’s a lot more fancy scientific language to describe density and molecular polarity, but maybe now you’ll at least look at that vinegrette salad dessing in a whole new way.
When you added the tablet piece, it sank to the bottom and started dissolving and creating a gas. As the gas bubbles rose, they took some of the colored water with them. When the blob of water reached the top, the gas escaped and down went the water. Cool, huh? By the way, you can store your "Blobs In A Bottle" with the cap on, and then anytime you want to bring it back to life, just add another tablet piece.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Does the temperature of the water affect the reaction?
2. Does the size of the bottle affect how many blobs are produced?
3. Does the effect still work if the cap is put on the bottle?
4. Does the size of the tablet pieces affect the number of blobs created?

Important Full Forms of Computer Terminology

Important Full Forms of Computer Terminology
*********************************************
*************
1.) GOOGLE : Global Organization Of Oriented
Group Language Of Earth .
2.) YAHOO : Yet Another Hierarchical Officious
Oracle .
3.) WINDOW : Wide Interactive Network
Development for Office work Solution
4.) COMPUTER : Common Oriented Machine
Particularly United and used under Technical
and Educational Research.
5.) VIRUS : Vital Information Resources Under
Siege .
6.) UMTS : Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System .
7.) AMOLED: Active-matrix organic light-emitting
diode
8.) OLED : Organic light-emitting diode
9.) IMEI: International Mobile Equipment Identity .
10.) ESN: Electronic Serial Number .
11.) UPS: uninterrupted power supply .
12). HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface
13.) VPN: virtual private network
14.) APN: Access Point Name
15.) SIM: Subscriber Identity Module
16.) LED: Light emitting diode.
17.) DLNA: Digital Living Network Alliance
18.) RAM: Random access memory.
19.) ROM: Read only memory.
20) VGA: Video Graphics Array
21) QVGA: Quarter Video Graphics Array
22) WVGA: Wide video graphics array.
23) WXGA: Wide screen Extended Graphics Array
24) USB: Universal serial Bus
25) WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network
26.) PPI: Pixels Per Inch
27.) LCD: Liquid Crystal Display.
28.) HSDPA: High speed down-link packet
access.
29.) HSUPA: High-Speed Uplink Packet Access
30.) HSPA: High Speed Packet Access
31.) GPRS: General Packet Radio Service
32.) EDGE: Enhanced Data Rates for Global
Evolution
33.)NFC: Near field communication
34.) OTG: on-the-go
35.) S-LCD: Super Liquid Crystal Display
36.) O.S: Operating system.
37.) SNS: Social network service
38.) H.S: HOTSPOT
39.) P.O.I: point of interest
40.)GPS: Global Positioning System
41.)DVD: Digital Video Disk / digital versatile disc
42.)DTP: Desk top publishing.
43.) DNSE: Digital natural sound engine .
44.) OVI: Ohio Video Intranet
45.)CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access
46.) WCDMA: Wide-band Code Division Multiple
Access
47.)GSM: Global System for Mobile
Communications
48.)WI-FI: Wireless Fidelity
49.) DIVX: Digital internet video access.
50.) .APK: authenticated public key.
51.) J2ME: java 2 micro edition
53.) DELL: Digital electronic link library.
54.)ACER: Acquisition Collaboration
Experimentation Reflection
55.)RSS: Really simple syndication
56.) TFT: thin film transistor
57.) AMR: Adaptive Multi- Rate
58.) MPEG: moving pictures experts group
59.)IVRS: Interactive Voice Response System
60.) HP: Hewlett Packard

make plastic milk


  • One cup of milk
  • 4 teaspoons of white vinegar
  • A bowl
  • A strainer
  • Adult help

  1. Ask your friendly adult to heat up the milk until it is hot, but not boiling
  2. Now ask the adult to carefully pour the milk into the bowl
  3. Add the vinegar to the milk and stir it up with a spoon for about a minute
  4. Now the fun part, pour the milk through the strainer into the sink - careful it may be hot!
  5. Left behind in the strainer is a mass of lumpy blobs.
  6. When it is cool enough, you can rinse the blobs off in water while you press them together .
  7. Now just mold it into a shape and it will harden in a few days. - Cool!

Plastic? In milk? Well, sort of. You made a substance called CASEIN. It's from the latin word meaning "cheese." CasEin occurs when the protien in the milk meets the acid in the vinegar. The casein in milk does not mix with the acid and so it forms blobs. True plastics, called poymers, are a little different. If you want to make a true plastic and learn more about polymers, try the Homemade Slime experiment. Have fun!

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Will more vinegar make more casein?
2. Will you get the same results with low-fat milk, soy milk?
3. Do all types of vinegar work?
4. Will other acids, such as lemon juice and orange juice work?

see some optical illussions


I know, it's not exactly an experiment, but illusions are still cool.
Illusions are images that use your EYES to confuse your BRAIN
Take a look at this grid:

Did you notice the small grayish dots between the black boxes. They are not part of the drawing - they were put there by your brain! Scientists call this "visual vibration." Basically it means that when you see patterns of black and white, your eye sometimes confuses the two and blends them into patterns of gray that you see here. You are seeing something that is not really there!


This elephant is missing a leg...or is it? The artist confuses his
viewer by changing they way our brain is used to seeing things.
It seems the more you look at the elephant, the more confusing it gets. 


Want to see the gears move?
Look at the dot and then move your head towards the screen and away from it.



This uses visual vibrations to create a cool effect. Try moving your head
close to, and then away from the screen. The fuzzy dots appear to move.



This simple line drawing is titled, "Mother, Father, and daughter" (Fisher, 1968)
because it contains the faces of all three people in the title.How many faces can you find?


Look at the dots in the center. Which one is bigger?
Like many similar illusions, the dots are the same size...really!
It can be hard to tell because your eye uses the other dots to make a comparison.


 
Check out the spiral...except it is not a spiral, just circles.

Don't believe me? Use your finger to follow the fake spiral.
The tilt of the boxes fools your brain into believing it is a spiral.


Hey, this is weird. It looks as though it's moving, but it's not.
The shapes confuse the eye (really the brain) into believing that they are moving.

blow up a balloon with yeast

  • A packet of yeast (available in the grocery store)
  • A small, clean, clear, plastic soda bottle (16 oz. or smaller)
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • Some warm water
  • A small balloon

  • 1. Fill the bottle up with about one inch of warm water.
    ( When yeast is cold or dry the micro organisms are resting.)
  • 2. Add all of the yeast packet and gently swirl the bottle a few seconds.
    (As the yeast dissolves, it becomes active - it comes to life! Don't bother looking for movement, yeast is a microscopic fungus organism.) 
  • 3. Add the sugar and swirl it around some more.
    Like people, yeast needs energy (food) to be active, so we will give it sugar. Now the yeast is "eating!"

  • 4. Blow up the balloon a few times to stretch it out then place the neck of the balloon over the neck of the bottle.
  • 5. Let the bottle sit in a warm place for about 20 minutes 
    If all goes well the balloon will begin to inflate!

As the yeast eats the sugar, it releases a gas called carbon dioxide. The gas fills the bottle and then fills the balloon as more gas is created. We all know that there are "holes" in bread, but how are they made? The answer sounds a little like the plot of a horror movie. Most breads are made using YEAST. Believe it or not, yeast is actually living microorganisms! When bread is made, the yeast becomes spread out in flour. Each bit of yeast makes tiny gas bubbles and that puts millions of bubbles (holes) in our bread before it gets baked. Naturalist's note - The yeast used in this experiment are the related species and strains of Saccharomyces cervisiae. (I'm sure you were wondering about that.) Anyway, when the bread gets baked in the oven, the yeast dies and leaves all those bubbles (holes) in the bread. Yum.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Does room temperature affect how much gas is created by the yeast?
2. Does the size of the container affect how much gas is created?
3. What water/room temperature helps the yeast create the most gas?
4. What "yeast food" helps the yeast create the most gas? (try sugar, syrup, honey, etc.)

make a paper clip float


  • clean dry paper clips
  • tissue paper
  • a bowl of water
  • pencil with eraser

  1. Fill the bowl with water
  2. Try to make the paper clip float...not much luck, huh?
  3. Tear a piece of tissue paper about half the size of a dollar bill
  4. GENTLY drop the tissue flat onto the surface of the water
  5. GENTLY place a dry paper clip flat onto the tissue (try not to touch the water or the tissue)
  6. Use the eraser end of the pencil to carefully poke the tissue (not the paper clip) until the tissue sinks. With some luck, the tissue will sink and leave the paper clip floating!

How is this possible? With a little thing we scientists call SURFACE TENSION. Basically it means that there is a sort of skin on the surface of water where the water molecules hold on tight together. If the conditions are right, they can hold tight enough to support your paper clip. The paperclip is not truly floating, it is being held up by the surface tension. Many insects, such as water striders, use this "skin" to walk across the surface of a stream.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. How many paperclips can the surface tension hold?
2. Does the shape of the paperclip affect its floating ability?
3. What liquids have the strongest surface tension?
4. Can the surface tension of water be made stronger? (try sprinkling baby powder on the surface)

bend water with static electricity

  • A dry plastic comb
  • An indoor faucet
  • A head full of clean dry hair.

1. Turn on the faucet and slowly turn down the water until you have a VERY thin stream of water flowing.

2. Take the plastic comb and brush it through your hair ten times.

3. Now slowly bring the comb close the the flowing water, (without actually touching the water) If all goes well, the stream of water should bend towards the comb! Magic you ask? Not really.

When you brushed that comb through your hair, tiny parts of the atoms in your hair, called ELECTRONS, collected on the comb. These electrons have a NEGATIVE charge. Remember that, its important. Now that the comb has a negative charge, it is attracted to things that have a POSITIVE charge. It is similar to the way some magnets are attracted to certain metals.
When you bring the negatively charged comb near the faucet it is attracted to the POSITIVE force of the water. The attraction is strong enough to actually pull the water towards the comb as it is flowing! If you want to try another experiment with your comb, tear up pieces of tissue until they are as a small as you can get them...I mean really small! Then charge your comb again by brushing it through your hair, and bring it close to the tiny pieces of tissue. If the pieces are small enough they will jump off the table to the comb the same way that the water was pulled to the comb.It is all thanks to the wonders of static electricity.

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Does water temperature affect how much the water bends?
2. Does the size of the comb affect the static power?
3. Does the amount of moisture in that air affect the static power? Try it after someone has taken a shower in the room.
4. Does the material that the comb is made of affect the static power?

make a cartesian diver


  • A clear ONE liter plastic soda bottle and cap (not the big 2 liter bottle)
  • A ball point pen cap that does not have holes in it
  • Some modeling clay ("sculpey" works too)
    1. Remove any labels from your bottle so that you can watch the action.
    2. Fill the bottle to the very top with water.
    3. Place a small pea-size piece of modeling clay at the end of the point on the pen cap. (see drawing)
4. Slowly place the pen cap into the bottle, modeling clay end first. (some water will spill out - that's okay) It should just barely float. If it sinks take some clay away. If it floats too much add more clay.
    5. Now screw on the bottle cap nice and tight.
    6. Now for the fun part. You can make the pen cap rise and fall at your command. Squeeze the bottle hard - the pen cap sinks...stop squeezing and the pen cap rises. With a little practice, you can even get it to stop right in the middle.

Impressive, but how does it work? This eaxperiment is all about DENSITY. When you squeeze the bottle, the air bubble in the pen cap compresses (gets smaller) and that makes it more dense than the water around it. When this happens, the pen sinks. When you stop squeezing, the bubble gets bigger again, the water is forced out of the cap, and the pen cap rises.
If it doesn't work: play around with the amount of clay and be sure the bottle is filled to the very top before putting on the cap.
Soy Sauce Diver: That's right, next time you go to your local Chinese Food restaurant, ask for a packet of soy sauce (the kind they use for take out orders) Don't open it - just put it in the bottle the same way instead of the pen cap. When you squeeze the bottle the air bubble inside the packet compresses and become more dense. The bubble in the packet makes it rise and fall just like the pen cap. This sometimes works with ketchup and mustard packs too. Have fun!

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Does the size of the bottle affect how hard you have to squeeze the make the diver sink?
2. Does it matter if the bottle is not filled all the way with water?
3. Does the temperature of the water affect the density of the the diver?

the exploding lunch bag

  • One small (sandwich size) zip-lock bag - freezer bags work best.
  • Baking soda
  • Warm water
  • Vinegar
  • Measuring cup
  • A tissue

    1. Go outside - or at least do this in the kitchen sink.

    2. Put 1/4 cup of pretty warm water into the bag.

    3. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water in the bag.

    3. Put 3 teaspoons of baking soda into the middle of the tissue

    4. Wrap the the baking soda up in the tissue by folding the tissue around it.

    5. You will have to work fast now - partially zip the bag closed but leave enough space to add the baking soda packet. Put the tissue with the baking soda into the bag and quickly zip the bagcompletely closed.

    6. Put the bag in the sink or down on the ground (outside) and step back. The bag will start to expand, and expand, and if all goes well...POP!

Cool huh? Nothing like a little chemistry to to add fun to a boring afternoon. What happens inside the bag is actually pretty interesting - the baking soda and the vinegar eventually mix (the tissue buys you some time to zip the bag shut) When they do mix, you create an ACID-BASE reaction and the two chemicals work together to create a gas, (carbon dioxide - the stuff we breathe out) well it turns out gasses need a lot of room and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bag, and keeps filling the bag until the bag can no longer hold it any more and, POP! Be sure to clean up well and recycle those plastic bags...have fun!

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:
1. Will different temperature water affect how fast the bag inflates?
2. What amount of baking soda creates the best reaction?
3. Which size bag creates the fastest pop?
P.S. If you like this experiment, try the Film Canister Rocket.