Use the two copper tubes to demonstrate center of mass. Place all there balls in any order in the vertival tube and the tube won't tip over. Now place the two plastic balls in the bottom of the angled tube and the metal ball in the top. The tube will tip over. Now switch the order of the balls so the metal ball is on the bottom. The tube will no longer tip over.
Location: Towers (2)- ME2E-53-5
Balls (3)- ME2E-53-5
Prep Time: none
Place the cone on track. Watch the cone roll up hill as its center of mass lowers on account of the spreading track.
Location: Double cone and track - ME3B-13-2
Prep time: none
There is a metal sheet with several holes in it. There is one hole at the center of mass. Use the handle that comes with it to demonstrate the center of mass.
Location: Center of mass - ME3B-14-2
Handle - ME3B-14-2
Prep Time: none
Have a male student move three shoe lengths away from a wall and bend over so his head is in contact with the wall. Place a chair for him to lift and then tell him to stand straight up without moving his feet. Most of the time this is not possible. However most girls can repeat the demonstration successfully.
Location: Chair - classroom
Prep Time: none
Use the block to demonstrate center of gravity and the force required to rotate an object around an axis. Set the block on a table and place a meter stick so you can pull the block against it with the string on the opposite side. Pull on the string toward the meter stick with a scale while keeping the string parallel to the table surface. Notice the force needed to rotate the block onto an edge. Now start with the block upright and notice the force needed to tip the block. You may repeat the demonstration with an incline plane.
Location: Block-
ME2C-07-3
Scale- ME2C-07-3
Meter stick- ME0G- 33-2
Incline- ME4C-07-3
Prep Time: none
Hold up a sheet vertically and have it bunch at the bottom. Have a student throw an egg at the sheet. The sheet will absorb the energy and the egg will gently fall to the floor.
Location: Sheet - ME4B-15-2
Prep time: Get some eggs
Use the coefficient of restitution apparatus. Drop different balls down the tube. Different balls will bounce different heights dependent on their composition.
Location: Apparatus – ME4A-18-1
Prep time: none
One ball is a no bounce ball and the other bounces very high. The sad ball demonstrates an inelastic collision and the happy ball demonstrates an elastic collision.
Location: Balls – ME2E-21-2
Prep Time: none
Hold a basketball four feet above the ground and drop it. Do the same with a rubber ball. Notice the balls don’t bounce very high. Now place the rubber ball on top of the basketball and drop them. The rubber ball will bounce very high. There is also a store bought version of this.
Location: Basketball -
C4-15-#
Rubber ball - C4-15-#
Store
version - C4-15-#
Prep Time: none
Give a student at the far end of the room one end of a string. At the other end of the room put a straw on the string. With Scotch tape attach a blown up long balloon that is not tied at the end. When you let go of the balloon it will fly across the room.
Location: Everything – ME2D-16-4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Take off nozzle to a CO2 fire extinguisher (It should be done for you. If not, there is a wrench provided.) Have a small student sit on the skateboard and pull the trigger. The student will accelerate across the floor. Have a second student stop the moving student before they hit the wall. Please see Chemistry stock room manager to replace demo fire extinguisher ASAP.
Location: Fire extinguisher – C1-05-2
Skate board – C1-05-2
Variable wrench – C1-05-2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Place the Liquid Nitrogen cannon on a dynamics cart. Fill it with ~10 ml of Liquid Nitrogen. Quickly put the rubber stopper on as tight as you can and stand back. Watch the cannon pop the stopper and recoil. There is an extra stopper.
Location: LN2 cannon –
ME2C-17-2
Dynamics cart – C3-06-2
Prep time: 5 minutes
To demonstrate rocket propulsion, use the water rocket toy. Fill the rocket half full with water. Pump it up as hard as you can. Point the rocket away from the roof of the building and pull the trigger. If you want to do this demo inside, don’t fill the rocket with water, only pump it with air. You can also fill the rocket ¼ full of water and pump it four to five times.
Location: Water rocket toy - ME2B-20-3
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Swing balls back and forth to demonstrate conservation of momentum. Vary the number of balls you set in motion. We have two of these set-ups.
Location: Apparatus 1 – ME3E-19-1
Apparatus 2 – ME1A-19-1
Prep time: none
There are two carts you can stand on. Have a large student and a small student stand on the carts. Use the bar provided and have the students push each other. The small student will move much further. Repeat this experiment with the rope and pull each other.
Location: Carts (2) – ME0G-54-4
Bar – ME0G-54-4
Rope – ME0G-54-4
Prep Time: none
