VanCleave's Science Fun

Your Guide to Science Projects, Fun Experiments, and Science Research

ABOUT THE SOUND PICTURE

With mouth wide open, vibrating air coming up the throat from the vocal chords leaving the open mouth and spreading in all directions. Hi, I am Janice VanCleave, author of 50+ best-selling science experiment books for children ages 4 through high school. I taught science for 27 years and now am creating this science website.   My scream was not staged. The picture was to be of two adult cats, which I was holding. A microsecond before the camera snapped, the two cats dug their claws into my skin as they prepared to leap out of my arms. A picture like this is great for making inferences. Kids could make "guesses" as to why I am screaming. They would be drawing on facts from the photo, such as I look like I am in pain or maybe I am just pretending.

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Home » Surface Tension

Surface Tension

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surface-tension23Question:

What is the trick behind floating a paper clip on water?

Answer:

There is no trick. The diagram shows the paper clip on a small piece of paper. I used a piece of paper towel. The paper helps to position the paper clip so that is sits flat on the water. The pencil in the diagram is pushing the edge of the paper beneath the water which causes the paper to sink.

While it may look like a magic trick, the paper clip continues to float on the surface of the water because of the surface tension of water.

Surface tension describes the attraction between the surface water molecules which causes the surface of a liquid to act like a thin skin is stretched across it. For information about the force of attraction between water molecules, see   COHESION.

52239: Janice VanCleave"s 203 Icy, Frosty, Cool and Wild Experiments Janice VanCleave’s 203 Icy, Frosty, Cool and Wild Experiments