Students, when u have the time, do go and visit this website: http://physics.about.com/.
It consists of many interesting experiments for you to try at home. =)
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Do Colored Candles Burn Faster than White?
Colors are amazing substances, and you wouldn't think that different colored candles would make that big of a difference when burning them, but it does. Let's do a simple experiment to find out if coloured candles will burn faster than white ones.
You will need:
A stopwatch
A ruler
A black marker
Candles of different colors (white, blue, yellow) but same sizes
A lighter.
Note: When selecting your candles, make sure that they are from the same brand, because different candles are made up of different types of waxes and have different dyes and wicks which may cause them to have different burning times.
Before starting experiment, think of a hypothesis. Which color of candle is going to burn the fastest? Will the blue candle burn the fastest because it is a dark color? Or maybe you think the white candle will burn the fastest? Write down your hypothesis in your Physics notebook.
Measuring from the top of the wax, mark a solid black line two inches down from the top. This is the mark at which you will stop the stopwatch when you can’t see it anymore. Repeat this on all your different colors of candles, and place them securely in a candle holder.
Light all of the candles at the same time and start the stopwatch. Wait until the candles have finished burning through the black line. Record the time it takes to reach this point for all the different colored candles. What are the results?
You should've found that if you thought the blue candle or the white candle was going to burn the fastest as it was the darkest or the lightest, that your hypothesis was wrong. In fact, the yellow candle was the one that burned the fastest. You may want to record why this happened and about how heat reflects off the surface and helps the yellow candle to melt the quickest.
You will need:
A stopwatch
A ruler
A black marker
Candles of different colors (white, blue, yellow) but same sizes
A lighter.
Note: When selecting your candles, make sure that they are from the same brand, because different candles are made up of different types of waxes and have different dyes and wicks which may cause them to have different burning times.
Before starting experiment, think of a hypothesis. Which color of candle is going to burn the fastest? Will the blue candle burn the fastest because it is a dark color? Or maybe you think the white candle will burn the fastest? Write down your hypothesis in your Physics notebook.
Measuring from the top of the wax, mark a solid black line two inches down from the top. This is the mark at which you will stop the stopwatch when you can’t see it anymore. Repeat this on all your different colors of candles, and place them securely in a candle holder.
Light all of the candles at the same time and start the stopwatch. Wait until the candles have finished burning through the black line. Record the time it takes to reach this point for all the different colored candles. What are the results?
You should've found that if you thought the blue candle or the white candle was going to burn the fastest as it was the darkest or the lightest, that your hypothesis was wrong. In fact, the yellow candle was the one that burned the fastest. You may want to record why this happened and about how heat reflects off the surface and helps the yellow candle to melt the quickest.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Anti-Gravity
Well, we all know that water always flows downwards due to gravity. However, there is now a way for you to let water defy the law of gravity and flow upwards. Do you want to try? For this experiment, you just need 2 cups (1 filled with water and 1 empty) and a paper napkin. Twist the paper napkin and make it into a long strip of "rope". Put each end of the napkin in each cup and observe. What happens to the water in the 1st cup? When does the experiment come to a stop? Enjoy!!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Welcome Note
Hi everybody,
Welcome to Miss Lim's classroom!! Over here, be expected to get engaged in fun activities to do with physics. Play games to better understand certain Physics concepts. There are simple experiments that you can carry out at home or do together with your friends. You can submit your work to me and good work may be selected to enter into competitions and for display in the Physics laboratory.
Welcome to Miss Lim's classroom!! Over here, be expected to get engaged in fun activities to do with physics. Play games to better understand certain Physics concepts. There are simple experiments that you can carry out at home or do together with your friends. You can submit your work to me and good work may be selected to enter into competitions and for display in the Physics laboratory.
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