1.
Metal tube (a cigar tube works great -- ask an adult to get you one)
2. Two pieces of strong, stiff wire (like clothes hanger wire) about 18-inches long
3. Cork that fits snuggly into the end of the tube
4. Two food warmer candles (in metal cups)
5. Balsa wood (4 inch by 8 inch, 1/2-inch thick)
6. Masking tape
7. Hammer and three nails
8. Matches
You'll need an adult's help with the matches and the hammer and nails!
Put the cork into the end of the metal tube
making sure its very tight. Carefully poke a hole
through the cork with a nail.
Take the two 18-inch lengths of wire. Wrap the
wire around metal tube about one-inch from each
end of the tube, and twist the wire tightly with the
pliers so the tube is firmly held by the wire and won't
slide.
Cut a boat shape out of the balsa wood, making
a triangle bow at one end. Hammer two large nails in
each end about one inch in from each end. The nails
will help to stabilize.
Mount the two candles about 1-1/2 inches from
each end of the wood. Use loops of masking tape to
stick the metal cups to the wood.
Take the tube with the wire and mount the tube
so the wire will hold the tube just above the candles.
Wrap the ends of the wire around and under the
board and twist the ends neatly on the underside.
(See picture.)
Carefully remove the cork from the tube and fill
the tube about three-quarters full with very hot water.
Tightly replace the cork. Make sure water will drip out
the hole in the tube.
Fill up a bath tub or a large sink with water.
Put your boat in the water and ask an adult to
carefully light the candles.
The heat of the candle will cause the water in the tube to boil. The water will change to steam
and the steam will escape out the hole in the cork pushing the boat forward in the water.
Here are some questions to think about:
1. Why use hot water in the tube?
2. What would happen if you used cold water?
3. What would happen if you didn't put a hole in the cork (DON'T TRY THIS!)?
4. What would happen if the hole in the cork were larger?
What's Happening
There are two different things to learn here.
A rocket works the same way. Hot gases and fire come out of the motor of a rocket. The
gases coming out the nozzle at the bottom of the rocket come out in one direction. These
escaping gases push the rocket in the opposite direction.
Second, energy from the candles changes the water into a gas (water vapor or steam). The
steam can escape. Steam is used in a lot of energy power plants.
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Electricity is "created" when certain chemicals react together. We use chemically- made electricity to power
many machines from flashlights to a watch or sometimes a car. Yes, there are cars that run on electricity!
The devices that store electricity are called batteries. Electricity can also be used to produce chemical
changes.
Water is a simple chemical made from two gases -- hydrogen and oxygen. Every molecule of water has two
atoms of hydrogen for every atom of oxygen. H2O is the chemical formula for a molecule of water.
If an electrical current is passed through water between electrodes (the positive and minus poles of a
battery), the water is split into its two parts: oxygen and hydrogen. This process is called electrolysis and is
used in industry in many ways, such as making metals like aluminum. If one of the electrodes is a metal, it
will become covered or plated with any metal in the solution. This is how objects are silverplated.
You can use electricity to split hydrogen gas out of the water similar to the process called electrolysis.
Try This!
1. A 9 volt battery
2. Two regular number 2 pencils (remove eraser and metal part on the ends)
3. Salt
4. Thin cardboard
5. Electrical wire
6. Small glass
7. Water
Sharpen each pencil at both ends.
Cut the cardboard to fit over glass.
Push the two pencils into the cardboard, about an inch apart.
Dissolve about a teaspoon of
salt into the warm water and let sit
for a while. The salt helps conduct
the electricity better in the water.
Using one piece of the
electrical wire, connect one end on
the positive side of the battery and
the other to the black graphite (the
"lead" of the pencil) at the top of the
sharpened pencil. Do the same for
the negative side connecting it to
the second pencil top.
Place the other two ends of the
pencil into the salted water.
As the electricity from the battery passes through and between the electrodes (the pencils),
the water splits into hydrogen and chlorine gas, which collect as very tiny bubbles around
each pencil tip.
Hydrogen collects around the cathode and the chlorine gas collects around the anode.
How can you get chlorine from H2O? Good question! Sometimes in experiments, a
secondary reaction takes place. This is what happens in this experiment.
Oxygen is not given off in this experiment. That's because the oxygen atoms from the water
combine in the liquid with the salt to form hydroxyl ions. Salt's chemical formula is NaCl -
sodium chloride. The chlorine gas is from the chloride in the salt. The oxygen in the hydroxl
ions stay in the solution. So, what is released in this reaction is not oxygen but is chlorine gas
that collects around the pencil tip. Around the other pencil is hydrogen gas.
In real electrolysis systems, a different solution is used, and higher levels of electricity help to
split the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen without this secondary reaction.
• 4-5 sheets of newspaper
• glass bowl
• hot water
• cornstarch
• measuring spoons
• aluminum foil
• wooden spoon
• scissors
• sharp pencil
• decorations for your paper, like construction paper scraps, dried flowers, confetti, or glitter
1. Check with a grown-up before you begin.
2. Recycling paper is good for the environment. It cuts down on the amount of garbage you
throw away and it means fewer trees have to be chopped down to make new paper.
3. To make your own recycled paper, you need to turn paper into pulp, and then back into
new paper. Here's how to do it.
4. Start by cutting the newspaper into small pieces. About 4 or 5 sheets of newspaper will be
enough to make two small pieces of recycled paper.
5. Put the newspaper scraps into bowl, cover them with hot water and mix it up until all of the
paper is wet.
6. Let the paper sit for a few hours, until it's all mushy. Stir it occasionally. When it looks and
feels like oatmeal, you're ready to make new paper.
7. Add a few tablespoons of cornstarch and a little more hot water. Mix it all up once more.
8. Now you have a pulpy, watery mess. Pulp is what you need to make paper, but you need to
get rid of extra water first. You can make a strainer to help you do that.
9. Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold into a square or rectangle about the size of the paper
you want to make. Punch holes in the aluminum foil with a sharp pencil.
10. Now it's time to make the paper. Take a new sheet of aluminum foil and put it on top of
extra newspapers.
11. Then, spoon some pulp on top. When the aluminum foil is covered with a layer of pulp, use
your strainer to press out the extra water. The pulp that's left behind will become your new
sheet of paper.
12. Add decorations to your paper, if you want. You can use dried flowers, confetti, or anything
else you find.
13. Pinch together any holes in the paper. You're almost done!
14. Finally, put aluminum foil and books on top of your paper and press it flat. Then take off
the books and the top layer of foil and leave it out overnight so that it can dry.
15. When it's done, peel the paper from the aluminum foil. You can leave the edges rough or
trim them to look like a card you buy in the store.
16. There you have it - recycled paper! ZOOM Into Action and help your community recycle.
Check out the ZOOM Into Action: Conservation Guide in ZOOM Into Action for more
ideas to help the environment and a guide.
17. Paper can be made of lots of different things. What other materials besides newspaper can
you recycle to make paper? What about empty cereal boxes or old magazines? Try it out,
and tell us what you found!
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/index.html#chemical this is d link.
