Homely Scientist

Gas?  No, not petrol or the like, apple gas.  As fruit ripens it gives off ethylene gas, ethylene gas also helps other fruit ripen too, but how can you harness it?  Simple, a plastic bag.
Okay I bought some green bananas recently (they were on sale).  Way too green to eat, but I also picked up some apples (mmm, apples).  So I put one apple in the plastic bag with the bananas and this morning they are riper (not completely ripe because someone wanted to eat the apple).  It’s really cool.  This whole process can make for a little fun kitchen …read more

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Science of course.  Now, the fastest way, and absolutely not recommended, is to use a CO2 fire extinguisher and blast the can of pop.  That will chill it like nobodies business, but … let’s skip that one and try something a) safer and b) easier.  It’s as easy as ice, water and the magic ingredient … salt.
I saw this on a Mythbusters episode but LifeHacker just posted about it recently.  Truth be told, the Mythbusters episode chilled beer, not pop.  Regardless the principle here is the same.  Okay water will chill things, water is an awesome conductor of heat.  Okay …read more

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I got a fun link from my good friend Laura over at CFS Stories, throwing hot dogs to calculate Pie.  No, really I’m serious.  I read through the article and it all makes sense.  Now, I’m not too crazy about throwing good food on the floor, so I think using something like a piece of PVC pipe or wooden dowel might be better.
Have I tried this yet?  Are you kidding?  We’re still having the occasional power issues and the water system is still coming online.  Maybe another snowy day.
Tags: Pi, calculating Pi

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Hsien-Hsien sent this YouTube video my way last week.  Okay the cuteness factor can be a little much, but the experiment is very cool and shows one of the weird science things that is also fun for kids: corn starch and water.  Here’s the video:

Okay corn starch is just some wild stuff.  In solution is has the property of when hit hard it acts like a solid, when pushed gently a liquid.  You can add more water and make slime (little food colouring makes it even more fun) … I hear a little liquid soap in the mix makes for …read more

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I was up late watching TV and I saw an episode of Mythbusters that I hadn’t seen before.  It was done over the summer and it featured, yes you guessed it Diet Coke and Mentos.  They answered a lot of the questions surrounding this fun little experiment and clarified for my why the B-day part coke geyser, didn’t geyser.
Okay first thing, it has to be Diet Coke and mint Mentos.  I’ll get to the reasons in a second.  I did use mint Mentos, but cheepo regular cola for the geyser and that’s why my geyser was a tad whimpy.
The question …read more

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Remember my homemade barometer?  Come on I just wrote about it on Monday !  Seriously here’s a little update for you.  First, as you can see, I’ve coloured the water to make it easier to see.  The water level in the tube isn’t accurate.  I quickly opened and closed the top to fill the tube a bit for the picture.
Next … I’ve made two more!  These two are for my daughter’s Grade 4 class (studying meteorology remember) and my son’s daycare.  I have enough tube and bottles to make another one or two if need me (I think Lorraine’s …read more

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I love the weather.  I’ve already talked about my favourite weather signs, now what about something a tad more scientific.  How about a barometer?  Making one is really, really easy and I’m going to show your how.  The kind I’m going to show you is called a weather glass.  You can find them in home and garden catalogs, but come on, let’s just make one instead!
Before I get into the make, let’s talk about what barometers do.  Barometer’s measure the minute changes in atmospheric pressure that indicate changes in weather.  Minute?  Yeah, really, really small.  Okay low pressure (usually associated …read more

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Yep I finally did it.  My daughter had been begging me to do one.  She’s seen the pictures, the movies, all of it.  So for her b-day party at my place …

Her very own Mentos-coke geyser.  Yeah it didn’t go as high as I had hoped (I didn’t get all the Mentos in at once), but I did it and I’m sure I’ll be doing it again.  Lorraine took the pics using the rapid-fire setting on my camera so you can see the whole set here on Flickr.
Tags: mentos coke geyser

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Ever wonder what to do with a foam take-out container?  I think I have the answer, via LifeHacker.  On team droid there are some pretty easy plans for taking a foam container and turning it into a nice glider.  Sure paper airplanes are fun, but think about the fun after a lunch with the kids and then making some cool gliders?  Yes, you need to wash them first.  Supplies?  Well if you have a marker and a pocket knife you should be good to go.
Hmm … I’m thinking McD’s hotcakes are in my future.
Tags: foam gliders

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Okay you parents can do them too.  Fellow b5-er Jason had this post on science experiments to try (thanks Cory!).  From the Independent had a great list of experiments, but now they are behind the walled garden.  Sigh.  Well looks like I’m going to be on the hunt for these.

Salt and marble mystery
Soda fountain
The ‘egg in the bottle’ trick
Floating fizzy drinks
Clouds in a bottle
Gravity in action
Make your own lava lamp
Orange life jackets
Invisible ink
Quicksand science

Okay … some of these I know and will write up (invisible ink … lemon juice works great).  Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to Google I …read more

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