Amazing Air experiments
Total time: 55 min.
Preparation time: At least an hour
Demonstrations
Expected time: 15 min. for both
1.Fish tank experiment
Goal: To demonstrate that air has a volume (takes us space).
Materials:
-Fish tank (or large container)
-A glass
-Water
-Paper towel (small piece rolled in a ball)
-Tape
Instructions:
-Fill a fish tank 2/3 of the way up with water.
-With tape, stick a ball of paper towel to the bottom of the glass.
-Invert the drinking glass and push it into the water, trapping air inside the glass.
-Students will observe the trapped air inside the glass and that the paper towel did not get wet.
-Slightly tip the glass to allow a bubble of air to escape and float to the surface of the water.
-The air bubble proves there is air that has volume within the glass. The air, as it moves out of the glass, is replaced by the water proving air takes up space.
2. Air has weight
Goal: Demonstrate that air has weight that is pushing down on us at all times.
Materials:
-30 cm ruler
-Several sheets of newspaper (the larger, the better)
-Table
Instructions:
-Place the ruler on the edge of the table, with about 1/3 sticking out over the edge.
-Cover the rest of the ruler with several sheets of newspaper.
-Hit the part of the ruler that is sticking out from the table, as if you wanted to fling the newspaper across the room.
-Expected outcome: you won’t be able to fling the papers.
Explanation:
At rest, there is a lot of air sitting on top of the newspaper since it has a large surface area. When we try to move the newspaper sheets quickly, all the air sitting on them has to be lifted. The newspaper sheets are not strong enough to lift all that air. This proves that air has weight. If it didn’t, the newspaper sheets would have been flung across the room.
Stations
Expected time: 10 min. per station
Maximum 6 children per station
Minimum 1 adult per station
1.Building a simple Kite
Goal: Moving air, like the wind, can create lift which allows objects such as kites to fly.
Materials:
-Kite template
-Stapler (or tape)
-String
-Hole puncher or pencil to punch a hole in the paper
Instructions:
-Fold template paper in half along the line. The line and letters should end up on the outside.
-Fold the top corners (the corners that are closer to point A) of the page to point A and staple them in place. Do not crease the paper. Just bend it back.
-Punch a hole at point B and attach the flying thread.
Explanation:
Kites are heavier than air and depend on wind to fly. The wind is just movement of air in the sky. The movement of air (or wind) going past the kite creates lift, allowing the kite to fly even though it is heavier than air. This is very similar to how airplanes fly.
2. Balloon rocket
Goal: Moving air (such as air coming out of a balloon) can move objects (such as a balloon or a jet plane) forward.
Materials:
-Balloons in various sizes
-Tape
-Balloon pump
-Kite reels
Instructions:
-Tie the end of the string to a loop on the wall (just like what we do in Jet Pack)
-Unroll the string and bring the straw along with you.
-Inflate a balloon but don’t tie it. Hold it shut with your fingers.
-Carefully tape the balloon to the straw.
-Let go and observe.
Explanation:
All the air particles in the balloon are squished together and want to get out. When you let go of the balloon, the air particles rush out to a less crowded space. Because of all the air rushing out, the balloon is pushed forward. The straw keeps the balloon in a straight line. This is very similar to how jet engines work.
3. Building a parachute
Goal: Objects have to move through the air. Different objects will move through the air in different ways.
Materials:
-Square piece of plastic bag
-Scissors
-4 pieces of string
-Paper clips
Instructions:
-With the scissors, cut a hole at each corner of the plastic bag.
-Attach a string to each corner.
-Attach the other end of the strings to a single paper clip.
-Add extra paper clips to the first one by hooking them together
-Each student should have a different number of paper clips attached to the parachute.
-From the mezzanine, drop all parachutes at the same time.
Explanation:
When you throw a rock in the air, it falls very fast. The rock is heavy and compact (small) which means it can make its way through the air very easily. Lighter things such as feathers or paper take a longer time to fall because they are lighter and more spread out (larger) which means it is more difficult for them to move through the air. A parachute is large and light which means it also has trouble moving through the air. That’s why a paper clip falls slower when it is attached to a parachute. The parachute attached to more than one paper clip falls faster because it is heavier and make its way through the air with greater ease.
4. Moving objects with air
Goal: Air is matter and cannot occupy the same space as other objects.
Materials:
-Ziploc bags
-Straws
-Tape
-Pencil to make hole in bag
-Books
Instructions:
-With the pencil (or pen), make a small hole near the opening of the Ziploc bag.
-Push the straw through the hole (about half way).
-Seal the hole with tape.
-Close the Ziploc bag.
- Put the bag under a book, leaving the straw to sticking out over the edge of the table.
-Blow through the straw to inflate the bag.
Explanation:
As air is pushed in the Ziploc bag, the air particles are getting more and more crowded. The air particles push against each other and inflate the bag which lifts the book. Books don’t float in the air normally because there are not enough squished air particles to support it.