photosyn
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Birthday party for 10 year old
I have been tasked with providing some science-based entertainment for my son's 10th birthday party.
Previous years we have:
- made ice cream with liquid nitrogen
- demonstrated the leidenfrost effect
- collected liquid oxygen by catching the condensate around a soda can of liquid nitrogen and burned tissue paper in it
... so mostly cryogenics.
Does anyone have any suggestions for things to capture the imaginations of 10 year olds? Anything involving combustion has to be well contained
(obviously). I will get to practice 2 or 3 times ahead of the party. And every child will get and take home their own pair of safety glasses.
Any suggestions?
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bnull
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Mood: Sneezing like there's no tomorrow. Stupid cat allergy.
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You can show how pH indicators work, what happens to polarized light (a white LED flashlight with a disc of polarizing filter is a simple and nice
giveaway) when it is reflected by or transmitted through materials, water-drop microscope using a smartphone.
A thing that I find particularly amusing (and useful on the few occasions I perform a microscale electrolysis) is electrolysis with the flask on top
of a strong magnet: a vortex appears the strength of which depends on the current and disposition of the electrodes. I use it to stir the solution but
it is visually appealing anyway.
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teodor
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One year ago I did some chemical experiments with 11 years old boy. I don't remember everything we did but I recall some thing which he asked me to
repeat the next time we met.
We mixed KI and Cu2SO4 * 5 H2O solutions, then heated the flask to see violet vapours of iodine, we put a watch glass on top to collect crystalls.
Generally I stopped to do ocasional experiments with him because I have no ability to study the most important thing required for this particular boy
- accuracy.
The way how I studied that is by preparing chemicals for photography (like developers etc). It was very important to wash everything, to measure
components with balances, mix without contamination because you always can see the result on the paper.
Considering the (most) young people never did photography by chemical process I think it would be very interesting experiment.
If you have the old big-format camera (the beginning of XX century, they worked with glass photo plates) and a photo paper, you can skip the tedious
process of getting the negative on film and put a photo paper directly into the camera. You need several seconds exposition and then you can develop
either negative or positive. For getting positive you need to process the paper with Potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) after development (also there
should be a stop bath before, I think I used acetic acid solution for that) . K3Fe(CN)6 should remove exposed areas, than you put the paper under
light to expose the rest, than develop as usual.
It requires more time but will allow to feel the real magic, not just "wow".
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Sir_Gawain
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Boric acid in methanol is always a favorite.
“Alchemy is trying to turn things yellow; chemistry is trying to avoid things turning yellow.” -Tom deP.
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Radiums Lab
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Try to show them the iodine clock reaction, it is amazing to watch and a bit safe too. If you are ok with handling sulfuric acid near kids then try
the para nitroaniline snake , it's beautiful to watch but a bit risky. You can even try the elephant toothpaste using KI as catalyst(instead of KMnO4
which makes it kind of blackish) and some food colour. Or you could add some KMnO4 solution into hydrogen peroxide (30% concentrated)
slowly to see the purple colour fade away. Try to make sugar rockets (using sucrose or sorbitol) as a group, it's a fire hazard but
fun to make, cast and watch them whistle away.
[Edited on 26-3-2025 by Radiums Lab]
Water is dangerous if you don't know how to handle it, elemental fluorine (F₂) on the other hand is pretty tame if you know what you are doing.
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Dr.Bob
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I like a little glycerin in potassium permanganate. Use a few tablespoons of KMnO4, add a teaspoon of glycerin and either wait a while or stir it
slightly with a long coffee stir or stick. About the time everyone thinks it is a dud, the whole thing lights up with a 2 foot flame if done right.
Needs to be outside and far away from the kids.... I also remember seeing a demo in school of Liq N2 with a banana that shattered, and using it to
freeze some mercury onto the end of a handle in a mold and using it to hammer a nail in, then the demoer held it over a bottle and it melted a few
seconds later. That one might not be safe now (or never was, but that didn't stop people in the 1980's).
Elephants toothpaste is nice, luminol is fun and mostly safe. Or maybe some strontium nitrate and sugar to make red flares.
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davidfetter
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Quote: Originally posted by photosyn  | I have been tasked with providing some science-based entertainment for my son's 10th birthday party.
Previous years we have:
- made ice cream with liquid nitrogen
- demonstrated the leidenfrost effect
- collected liquid oxygen by catching the condensate around a soda can of liquid nitrogen and burned tissue paper in it
... so mostly cryogenics.
Does anyone have any suggestions for things to capture the imaginations of 10 year olds? Anything involving combustion has to be well contained
(obviously). I will get to practice 2 or 3 times ahead of the party. And every child will get and take home their own pair of safety glasses.
Any suggestions? |
If it doesn't have to be DIY, or physics, there are some pretty awesome outfits that will stop by with all kinds of interesting animals. In the SF Bay
Area, where I lived until a couple of years ago, there's an outfit that has lots of herps and quite a few arthropods.
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davidfetter
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| Quote: Originally posted by photosyn | I have been tasked with providing some science-based entertainment for my son's 10th birthday party.
Previous years we have:
- made ice cream with liquid nitrogen
- demonstrated the leidenfrost effect
- collected liquid oxygen by catching the condensate around a soda can of liquid nitrogen and burned tissue paper in it
... so mostly cryogenics.
Does anyone have any suggestions for things to capture the imaginations of 10 year olds? Anything involving combustion has to be well contained
(obviously). I will get to practice 2 or 3 times ahead of the party. And every child will get and take home their own pair of safety glasses.
Any suggestions? |
Have you discussed this with your son? Young people are often excellent sources of fresh ideas, and your kid is the best source for the kinds of
things they think are cool/interesting/etc. This could be a really fun way of figuring out how to get from an idea to a plan to trials to the actual
demo. It could even be a participation thing.
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photosyn
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Thank you everyone for some very helpful suggestions.
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j_sum1
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Blue bottle, traffic light, and chameleon reactions are simple and cool. And kids can probably do them by themselves with a bit of supervision.
Edit
Look up my 100 subs video on sum_lab. There are a few dramatic reactions there with procedures given. None are tricky to perform. That entire video
was one Saturday afternoon's work.
[Edited on 27-3-2025 by j_sum1]
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Morgan
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC7exjFwiUo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMf8Rn4bdME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08ZyH8FElng
[Edited on 28-3-2025 by Morgan]
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yobbo II
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Take some wire wool (hardware store)
Taking small pieces dip them in different salt solutions. Cu sulphate. K chloride. Na chloride. Ca chloride etc. dry them
Attach srings to the wods of steel wool. When lit and swung around the wool will burn with different colours
Yob
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Morgan
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This was just a hole drilled in the bottom of an aluminum bottle and a short stub of aluminum tubing that fit snuggly enough when pressed into the
hole. The top is a one hole rubber stopper with a piece of metal in it to plug the hole. A hose clamp was used to make the exhaust end float above the
waterline. Methanol for fuel. I held the bottle when lighting it so as not to jiggle it too much from the initial whoosh. Probably a bit too much to
do or bother with but a Zippy Putt Putt Boat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChtLqS7tRyo
These little toys might be fun.
Penguin Pop Pop Boat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNNsPe7YDtY
Pop Pop Boat Test with a Stainless Steel Mesh Wick and Methanol in a Small Glass Vial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEEWXrJaqCM
Jam Jar Submarine Effect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJidOHrPpEo
Store-bought Jam Jar Jets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEgXyf2NevM
Borosilicate Jam Jar Jet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2NB2QRbmnI
[Edited on 29-3-2025 by Morgan]
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j_sum1
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| Quote: Originally posted by yobbo II | Take some wire wool (hardware store)
Taking small pieces dip them in different salt solutions. Cu sulphate. K chloride. Na chloride. Ca chloride etc. dry them
Attach srings to the wods of steel wool. When lit and swung around the wool will burn with different colours
Yob
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Do it at night.
Don't burn any holes in your back yard trampoline. (Just sayin'!)
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