Astronauts Grow a Water Bubble in Space
Adults PhysicsDuring Expedition 40 in the summer of 2014, NASA astronauts Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman - along with European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst - explored the phenomenon of water surface tension in microgravity on the International Space Station. The crew "submerged" a sealed GoPro camera into a floating ball of water the size of a softball and recorded the activity with a 3-D camera.
Why is ketchup so hard to pour?
Adults PhysicsEver go to pour ketchup on your fries...and nothing comes out? Or the opposite happens, and your plate is suddenly swimming in a sea of red? George Zaidan describes the physics behind this frustrating phenomenon, explaining how ketchup and other non-Newtonian fluids can suddenly transition from solid to liquid and back again.
Anti-Gravity Wheel Explained
Adults PhysicsIt's a little shaky but if you average out the oscillations I think the result is clear. Again, huge thank you's to A/Prof Emeritus Rod Cross, Helen Georgiou, Alex Yeung, and Chris Stewart, the University of Sydney Mechanical Engineering shop, Duncan and co. Ralph and the School of Physics.
Anti-Gravity Wheel?
Adults PhysicsIn this video I attempt to lift a 19kg (42 lbs) wheel over my head one-handed while it's spinning at a few thousand RPM. This replicates an earlier experiment by Professor Eric Laithwaite. He claimed the wheel was 'light as a feather' and could not be explained by Newton's Laws. I wanted to find out for myself what I really felt like.
When Water Flows Uphill
Adults PhysicsIn the Leidenfrost Effect, a water droplet will float on a layer of its own vapor if heated to certain temperature. This common cooking phenomenon takes center stage in a series of playful experiments by physicists at the University of Bath, who discovered new and fun means to manipulate the movement of water.
Incredible Chemical Reaction!
Adults PhysicsThis is a classic chemical reaction. It's called the iodine clock reaction. There are several variations of how this chemical reaction can be performed using different chemicals than the ones I used in the video. You can order clock reaction kits from several science related websites. You can also use simple store bought chemicals like vitamin C, iodine, hydrogen peroxide and starch. A quick internet search will turn up multiple ways of performing the experiment.