CD Hovercraft

Materials
Compact disc (CD) Sports bottle cap (push/pull closure) Card stock or thin Balloon Pushpin or thumbtack Hot glue gun Scissors Smooth surface

cardboard

Using a pushpin, poke 2 holes near the center of a closed sports bottle cap. Make sure that the tamper-proof ring is removed from the cap and that the holes go all the way through the plastic of the cap. Use the hot glue gun to glue the bottom of the cap to the top of the compact disc. Use as little hot glue as possible, but be sure that there is a perfect airtight seal between the cap and CD. Giving the cap a slight twist when you glue it to the CD can help. Create a collar for the cap by curving or bending a piece of card stock or thin cardboard (2"x6"). Cut two slits, one on each end of the card stock that are 1" from the end. Cut the slits on opposite sides of the collar (think of it as the top and bottom of the collar). Join the slits together to create the collar. Find a clean, smooth surface to place the hovercraft on. Inflate the balloon and twist the opening shut. Pull the open end of the balloon through the collar. Stretch the balloon's opening over the sports bottle cap. Without letting any air out, place the cardboard collar around the base of the balloon and cap. Now let the air out of the balloon. If the hovercraft doesn't slide or spin easily, make sure the CD isn't warped. If it is, you'll need to rebuild your hovercraft. If everything looks normal, try poking larger or more holes in the sports bottle cap. How does it work? Hovercrafts work by using air to lift a vehicle off of the ground. The CD Hovercraft is no exception. As the balloon deflates, it is releasing air through the sports bottle cap and beneath the CD. Because of the shape, smoothness, and weight distribution of the CD, the releasing air creates a cushion of air between the CD and the surface. This cushion of air reduces the friction between the CD and surface and allows your hovercraft to move more freely. Burning money How does it work? A combustion reaction occurs between alcohol and oxygen, producing heat and light (energy) and carbon dioxide and water. C2H5OH + 4 O2 -> 2 CO2 + 3 H2O + energy

When the bill is soaked an alcohol-water solution, the alcohol has a high vapor pressure and is mainly on the outside of the material (a bill is more like fabric than paper, which is nice, if you've ever accidentally washed one). When the bill is lit, the alcohol is what actually burns. The temperature at which the alcohol burns is not high enough to evaporate the water, which has a high specific heat, so the bill remains wet and isn't able to catch fire on its own. After the alcohol has burned, the flame goes out, leaving a slightly damp dollar bill. Materials Rubbing alcohol Tongs Fire extinguisher

Water Safety glasses 1. Start by preparing a water-alcohol mixture by combining 70 mL of 70% rubbing alcohol with 30 mL of water. Make sure to stir the mixture thoroughly. 2. Borrow a $20 bill from your friend. Rule #1: Never use your own money. 3. Dip the bill into the mixture of water and rubbing alcohol, making sure the bill is completely soaked. 4. Remove the bill using the tongs - squeeze out any excess liquid. 5. Move the water-alcohol mixture to a safe place (away from the area where you are going to light the bill). 6. Hold one end of the bill with tongs and light the bottom of the bill. The bill will look like it's burning, but it shouldn't burn (famous last words). When the flame is completely extinguished, it's safe to touch the money... you'll find that the money is even cool to the touch. You can also try mixing these ratios of water and alcohol depending on the kind of alcohol that is available to you... 50 mL of 99% isopropyl alcohol mixed with 50 mL of water 50 mL of 95% ethyl alcohol with 50 mL of water 70 mL of rubbing alcohol (usually 70%) with 30 mL of water Alcohol burns with an almost invisible blue flame. One trick is to add a little table salt to the water-alcohol mixture to make the flame more visible. How does it work? By now you've probably guessed that the money will actually burn if you dip it into a pure alcohol solution. The secret, of course, is the addition of water to the mixture. The water from the water-alcohol mixture absorbs much of the heat energy that is generated when you ignite the bill. The temperature of the paper money does not rise above the temperature required to burn the paper. The water is first heated to its boiling point and then vaporized by the heat of combustion from the burning alcohol. If you reduce the amount of water in the mixture, the paper money is likely to char or even catch fire. Candle seesaw How does it work? As Sir Isaac Newton's third law states, "For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction." When the tallow or wax drips off each end of the candle, it delivers a slight upward recoil. What we have here is a mixture of two very common aspects of motion in the world: regular oscillations, like a pendulum or a weight on a spring; and feedback some aspect of the motion feeds back into the system and affects the state of motion. The seesawing arises because inevitably one end of the candle burns somewhat

faster than the other. The candle then tilts, the flame at the low end melts more wax, and the candle swings back. This is the feedback. The swinging motion is an overshoot because of the inertia of the candle; once it starts swinging, it rises an approximately equal distance beyond the balance point before its kinetic energy is exhausted. Materials Pointed-tip scissors 2 small birthday candles 3 paper clips Ruler 2 oz plastic cup Thumbtack 2 straws Matches or lighter Newspaper or surface you don't mind getting wax on Adult supervision

1. Using the pointed end of the scissors, poke a hole into the bottom of the 2 ounce plastic cup. The hole should be just big enough to slide in the end of one of the straws. 2. When you have the hole in the cup, slide the end of a straw in so that it is sturdy and able to stand. 3. Using the ruler, find the middle of the remaining straw. Once you have found the middle of the straw, poke a hole through it using the thumbtack. Try to keep the thumbtack level as you poke through the straw. 4. Take one of the paper clips and straighten out the smaller loop so that it is almost straight. Take the end of the straightened side and bend it upwards. The shape you end up with should look like an "L" connected with a "J." 5. Slide the "L" end of the paperclip you just bent through the straw where you punched the holes. Slide the paperclip so that the straw is at the bottom of the "L." 6. Now take the "J" side of the bent paper clip and put it into the top of the straw opposite the cup. Your apparatus should look like a seesaw now. 7. Insert the flat "wickless" end of the candles into the two ends of the seesaw straw. To keep the candles in place, paperclip the outside of the straw. 8. Balance the seesaw by sliding the two candles in or out of the straw. Now that you're balanced, set your apparatus on a surface that you don't mind getting candle wax on, light both of the candles, and watch the magic happen. How does it work? The Magic Candle Seesaw is actually based on the physics of Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law. The law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, this law of physics makes jet flight possible. The propulsion from the back of a jet makes the jet itself move forward. The initial action is the jet propulsion, the equal and opposite reaction is the movement of the jet. So what makes this law apply to the Magic Candle Seesaw? It's actually much simpler and on a much smaller scale than the jet example above. If you carefully watch the end of the seesaw that is closer to the ground, you'll notice a drop of wax fall. Believe it or not, this one drop of wax falling is the action that creates an equal and opposite reaction of the seesaw's upward motion. Amazing, right?