Sunday, February 15, 2009

Chemistry Experiments with Dudeman


Well, I just like using chemicals, and I like science a lot.  And it's because I really want to be a chemical reaction scientist when I grow up, so I want to have a little bit of practice.  We made a volcano today, but we didn't make it erupt because it takes 24 hours to dry.  We also used cornstarch and we put droplets of food coloring on it.  And that demonstrates water's surface tension.  It just makes beads and it doesn't run.  Then you put some dish detergent on the stick and put it in the food coloring and it breaks the surface tension.  And then the color runs and makes a puddle instead of a bead.

(The experiment: sprinkle a thin layer of cornstarch onto a paper plate.  Put a few small drops of food coloring on the cornstarch.  The drops look very rounded, like beads.  Dip a toothpick into dish detergent and then put it in the food coloring beads.  The detergent molecules break up the water's surface tension and the beads of color flatten out and spread into the cornstarch.)  Now, back to Dudeman...

I made a skateboard ramp out of Legos and that's kind of like a science experiment.  Is that OK?  Can I finish this later?  

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