In this demo a ping pong ball with a hole along the seam is submerged in liquid nitrogen (-196⁰C) to fill it. When removed, the nitrogen in the ball boils and is forced out of the hole in a stream. The stream, which comes out at an angle, causes the ball to spin away from the stream. The “stream” that we see is condensed water vapor, not nitrogen gas.
In this “trash-to-treasure” activity, polystyrene clamshell containers (#6 plastic) are used to make hard plastic art pieces. When polystyrene clamshell containers are produced, the material is heated and stretched into a mold, thus locking the material in an extended state. When this material is heated again, it returns to its unstretched size and shape. This property can be utilized to create a range of crafts, including buttons, key chains, luggage tags and jewelry. If students mass their plastic before and after, this could also be tied to the Law of Conservation of Mass.
Friday July 20th, 2012: Casey and Dr. Caran hosted 31 science from around Virginia on for an all day Chemistry Demonstration Workshop.
Tuesday July 17th, 2012: JMU ChemDemo did a chemistry “magic show” at the Highland County Library in Monterey, VA as part of their summer program.
Monday July 9th, 2012: JMU ChemDemo did a set of demos and activities with students at Waynesboro High School as part of their Purple and Gold Connections program. For more…
Tuesday July 3rd, 2012: We did a chemistry “magic show” for clients at NW Works.