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Science Experiments PDF
Science Experiments PDF
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101 SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
lOl SCIENCE
By Ilia Podendorf
Illustrations by
Robert Borja
EXPERIMENTS
EXPERIMENTING . . 10
You must think over the plan for doing the experiment, a n d
t h e n follow t h e p l a n carefully. As you are doing the e x p e r i m e n t
watch, listen a n d think carefully to find out w h a t happens in
order to decide u p o n the answer to the question.
T h e answers to these questions m a y c a u s e y o u to t h i n k of
other questions. You may then plan other experiments for yourself.
T h e answers to these questions a n d others which you m a y plan for
yourself help you to understand the environment in which you live.
12
Flasks, test tubes, rubber corks, etc., mentioned in these experi-
m e n t s are found in most Chemistry Sets. F u r t h e r suggestions for
w h e r e to find satisfactory a n d s i m p l e m a t e r i a l s for e x p e r i m e n t s 13
Put a balloon on an
empty flask.
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g. You are sure to know that air moves. Did you ever wonder
why? Why does air move?
26
N o w you know t h a t :
Air moves.
. 27
30
2. Are big magnets stronger than little magnets?
33
5. Can magnets be used as compasses?
M a k e a s t a n d a r d or s u p p o r t for a b a r m a g n e t . It
needs to be m a d e from wood or from something which
magnets will not attract. M a k e a hammock for the mag-
net by folding a piece of p a p e r a r o u n d it and tying the
two ends of the paper to a string which hangs from the
support. Now place the magnet in the hammock and let
it swing freely.
34 After a few minutes it will come to rest. If you look
carefully you will see t h a t t h e N o r t h pole is p o i n t i n g
toward the north. T h e N pole gets its n a m e because it
points north. It should really be called the north-seeking
pole. T h e S pole should be called the south-seeking pole.
A b a r m a g n e t could be used as a compass. If you
h a d not k n o w n which direction was n o r t h you could
have e x a m i n e d the m a g n e t a n d t h e n you would have
known. The needle in a compass is really a magnet.
6. Can a magnet be made out of a steel needle?
35
7. How are electric magnets made to work?
37
8. Do electric magnets have poles?
40
Now you know that:
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An electric magnet can be m a d e from an iron bolt and
cotton-covered copper wire.
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2. How can a bell be connected with two dry cells so that it
will ring?
49
5. What good is a fuse? This experiment will help you under-
stand how a fuse works. Tou can see it work.
_
6. What makes a light bulb light up? This experiment will help
you find out what makes an electric light bulb light up.
******
56
Now you know that:
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Static electricity can be produced by rubbing.
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3. Does wind help water to evaporate?
63
5. Can water be taken out of the air again?
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6. Will water expand (take up more space) when it is heated?
66
8. Will ice float?
68
Put a tablespoonful of sugar in a cup of water and
stir. W h a t happens? Do the same with salt. W h a t hap-
pens? Do the same with sand. W h a t happens? The sugar
a n d salt b o t h dissolved in t h e w a t e r very quickly, but
the sand did not.
10. Will the sugar dissolve faster in hot water than in cold
water?
100"",
70
Now you know that:
W a t e r evaporates.
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Hot water dissolves things faster than cold water.
Get a glass of water from the tap. Feel the water and
try to d e t e r m i n e for yourself t h e t e m p e r a t u r e . Write
down your estimate.
N o w use a t h e r m o m e t e r a n d find out t h e actual
t e m p e r a t u r e . Do this again a n d see w h e t h e r you were
right.
Try this same experiment using hot water. Do you
think that you were a good thermometer? You probably
think that your estimates cannot be depended upon
completely.
Neither can we be d e p e n d e d u p o n to j u d g e temp-
eratures of rooms. If we come in f r o m the cold outside
we p r o b a b l y think the r o o m is w a r m . If we come into
•75
the same room from the hot outside we probably think
that the room is cool.
Exact temperatures can only be found by the use of
a thermometer.
3. How can I make a thermometer?
76
4. Can heat travel in a solid?
Find two pint milk bottles which are just alike. Get
a jug of hot water and take the temperature of the
water. Record the t e m p e r a t u r e so that you will not for-
get it.
P o u r some of t h e hot w a t e r into o n e of t h e milk
bottles and some of it into the other milk bottle so that
b o t h of t h e m are full to t h e top. P u t a cork in each of
them. Wrap one of them with a woollen cloth and then
I set them side by side in a cool place.
After about half-an-hour take the temperature of
the water in each milk bottle. H o w did they compare?
T h e one with the wool a r o u n d it was w a r m e r because
wool is a poor conductor of heat. It did not let so much
of the heat in the bottle escape.
We wear woollen clothing so that the heat from our
bodies will not escape so easily. Wool is a poor conductor
because it has m a n y little air spaces in it.
Why do we wear light coloured clothing in the summer time ?
83
10. Why do we feel cool when we come from swimming in the
summer time?
We need t h e r m o m e t e r s to m e a s u r e t e m p e r a t u r e accu-
rately.
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Dark colours absorb heat and light ones reflect it.
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2. Now you have learned that sound is caused by vibrations.
You have learned, too, that vibrations travel through air. Tou
are probably wondering whether sound vibrations travel
through other kinds of materials.. Tou might do an experiment
and answer this question:
Will sound vibrations travel through wood?
90
4. What makes some sounds louder than others?
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Now you know that:
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96
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2. Here is another experiment which will help you understand
how light gets from one place to another.
S t a n d in a w i n d o w a n d use a mirror.
Hold the mirror in such a way that the
bright sunlight hits it. Move it slowly about.
You will find a reflection of the sunlight on
the wall.
As you move the mirror slowly, the sun-
light on t h e wall moves. T h e rays of light
come from the sun—hit the mirror—and are
bounced or reflected to the place on the
wall. T h e light travels in a straight line to
the mirror and in a straight line to the wall
where you see it.
3. What kinds of things reflect the most light?
103
7. How can we make a rainbow?
H o l d a prism in t h e p a t h of a r a y of sun-
light and turn the prism slowly until you see
a rainbow on the wall or ceiling.
If you succeed in p u t t i n g the r a i n b o w
on a table, lay a piece of white paper where
the rainbow lies. You will notice it shows u p
more clearly on the white. T h e sunlight is
made up of the rainbow colours—violet, indi-
go, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. The
prism is glass cut into a particular shape.
Because of this shape it separates the white
sunlight into the rainbow colours.
You m a y be able to get a r a i n b o w in
another way.
Set a glass dish of water in the sunlight.
You m a y see a r a i n b o w on t h e wall. T h e
water breaks the sunlight up into the colours
of w h i c h it is m a d e . T h i s is w h y we h a v e
rainbows. T h e sunshine on drops of water in
the sky may cause a r a i n b o w which we
can see.
Now you know t h a t :
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Light rays are bent as they go t h r o u g h some materials.
108
2. It is easy to tell that the work is made easier by using the
broom sticks in experiment No. 1. How can we measure the
amount of work which wheels do?
Use a small toy cart a n d a spring b a l a n c e scales.
You may need to borrow the spring balance scales from
a science laboratory.
Tie a string to the front of the toy cart. Hook the
spring balance scales to the other end of the string. Now
turn the cart upside down on the floor a n d pull it along
p a y i n g attention to the r e a d i n g on the spring balance
scales. The reading will tell you how much work you are
doing.
Turn the cart over on its wheels a n d pull it along
again. Notice the reading on the spring balance scales.
It will be a great deal less because the wheels are doing
much of the work for you.
3. Wheels are called simple machines because they do work for
us. There are other kinds of simple machines. Suppose your
family was moving. How could you get your heavy
bicycle up into the van ? You could use an inclined plane.
How does an inclined plane help do work?
Find two screws which are the same length and the
same size around. T h e one difference in these two screws
should be that one of them has m a n y more threads than
the other. T h e picture will help you u n d e r s t a n d w h a t
threads are.
Find a board at least three inches square and about
as thick as the screws are long. With a hammer give
each of the screws the same kind of a start into the wood.
Use a screw driver and screw one of t h e m down until it
is about V4 of its length in the wood. As you do it notice
how h a r d it is to do. Notice, too, how m a n y turns you
make to put the screw in t h a t far. Now screw the other
one down and notice how this one compares to the other
one. Screw each of t h e m down until they are half in the
wood.
Was it the same one which was hardest to get in the
wood? Was it t h e s a m e one which took more t u r n s to
get it into the wood? Which one was the hardest, which
one took the more turns? T h e one with m o r e t h r e a d s
was doubtless easier b u t you h a d to t u r n it more times.
Here, as in e x p e r i m e n t No. 3, you must move f a r t h e r
b u t t h e work is easier.
5. How could you lift a very heavy box into your play tree-house?
Look at this test tube the next day. You will notice
t h a t water rises in the test t u b e . This must m e a n that
some of the air has been used up. If you did experiment
No. 10 in the section on air you probably remember that
some of the air was used u p as the candle b u r n e d . T h e
p a r t of the air which the fire used a n d the p a r t which
the rusting used was the same. It was the gas called oxy-
gen. About one fifth of the air is oxygen. Rusting is, in a
way, like very slow burning. In both cases oxygen is
combining with something. In rusting, iron unites with
the oxygen to form rust. Water c a m e about one fifth of
jjg t h e way u p in the t u b e a n d filled the place where the
oxygen was. This e x p e r i m e n t c a n be d o n e with steel
wool instead of iron filings.
2. What happens when a candle burns?
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4. In experiment Number 3 you made some carbon dioxide. We
are making carbon dioxide all the time in our bodies too.
When we breathe out we are getting rid of much of it.
How do we know that we breathe out carbon dioxide?
120
6. Many of our foods have fats in them. How can we test for
fats?
122
8. How do we test for acids?
125
SLATE CORAL
10. How can I make butter?
126
N o w you know t h a t :
Slit the stick of celery half the way up. Put one
138
side in one glass of coloured water and the other side
in the other glass of coloured water. Let this stand for
about two hours. Notice what has happened to the colour
of the celery. The red has gone up on one side and the blue
has gone up the other side. Take the celery out of the
water and dry it. Now cut across the celery stalk. You
will notice spots of colour which shows where the coloured
water went up the stem. These are the water tubes in
the stem. Water goes up to the leaves through the water
tubes.
139
9. What do yeast plants need in order to become active?
140
Get a quantity of dry yeast. The yeast looks like dry
powder. In this dry powder are m a n y little inactive
plants. Put a teaspoonful of this yeast in a cup. Put an-
other teaspoonful of yeast in another cup and the same
amount in a third cup.
In two of these cups a d d mildly w a r m water until
the cup is about half full. To one of these cups of water
a n d yeast add one teaspoonful of sugar.
Set all three cups aside for about half-an-hour. Exam-
ine them to see what has happened. You will see nothing
has happened to the dry yeast. The water and yeast alone
has no evidence of action. T h e third c u p — t h e one with
the water, yeast and sugar shows much action. There are
m a n y bubbles. T h e sugar is food for the yeast plants. As
the yeast plants grow a n d form more yeast plants they
give off carbon dioxide and alcohol. The bubbles you see
are bubbles of carbon dioxide.
io. In what kind of place should we expect mould to grow?
T h e penny will fall into the glass. The card went off
of the glass so fast that the penny did not have a chance
to get started. T h e penny could not get started because
of inertia. When any thing is still it tends to stay still un-
less something starts it moving.
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2. When a car stops suddenly why do we go forward?
P r i n t e d in B e l g i u m by £ t a b l i s s e m e n t s C a s t e r m a n S. A., T o u r n a i