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This Week's Experiment - The Paper Siphon

To all of the mothers that have tolerated the smells of chemistry sets, pet
lizards that sometimes get loose, family vacations that include transporting
several hundred pounds of rocks, and bedrooms filled with bones, half
disassembled radios, mealworm farms, and all sorts of "science stuff", and
especially to my mother, who put up with it all, Happy Mother's Day!

This week, we are ALL on the road. My wife, her dog, my spider and I are all
in South Florida, doing lightning shows for Florida Power and Light.
Actually, I am doing the shows. The rest of the entourage is along for moral
support.

For this week's experiment, we will examine something that has caused problems
for Moms throughout the ages. While washing up, someone leaves a towel
hanging over the side of a sink full of water and mysteriously, the water all
winds up on the floor.

For this experiment, you will need:

two glasses
water
a paper towel

Fill one glass with water. Place the empty glass beside it. Tear a strip of
paper towel long enough to reach from the bottom of the full glass to the
bottom of the empty glass. Place this paper strip into the glasses, so that
it touches the bottom of each. Now let the entire setup sit for a while.
Check on it periodically to see what is happening.

What happened? First, you should have noticed that the water soaked into the
paper towel and began to climb upwards. This is due to capillary action. The
surface tension of the water pulls it into the space between the fibers of the
paper. When the water climbs to the top of the paper towel, it begins to flow
downward, into the paper towel in the empty glass. Gravity pulls the water
down, leaving room for more water to rise up from the full glass. This will
continue as long as the water level is higher in one glass than the other.
Once the water level in the two glasses is equal, then the water will stop
flowing.

When you wash dishes for your Mom tonight (of course you will!), be sure not
to leave the dish cloth hanging over the side of the sink.

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Upcoming On-the-road schedule

May 11-15 - School shows for FP&L, Ft. Pierce and Stewart, FL
May 16 - Scout extravaganza - NAS, Jacksonville, FL
May 19 - On-line presentation on "Hands-on Science", in American Online's Homefront Hall
June 11 - Green Cove Springs Library, Florida
June 15-20 - American Museum of Science and Energy, Oak Ridge, TN
June 22-26 - Electricity Camp, The Center at Ponte Vedra, FL
June 29-July 3 - Science Wizards Camp, The Center at Ponte Vedra, FL
July 6 - 10 - Crime Busters Camp, The Center at Ponte Vedra, FL
July 13-17 - Dinosaurs Camp, The Center at Ponte Vedra, FL
July 24-27 - Grout Museum, Waterloo, Iowa
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Each week I will e-mail you a new experiment that you can try yourself. I
look for experiments that are unusual, safe, dramatic, cheap, and fun. Since
this list includes teachers, parents, science buffs, and students, I will try
to give you a wide variety of things to try.

Please forward this e-mail to anyone that you think might enjoy it. If you
received this e-mail from someone else and would like to be on the list, just
send me an e-mail at krampf@aol.com, asking to be added to the Experiment of
the Week List. If you ever want off the list, just send me an e-mail
requesting to be removed.

Check out our web site at:
http://members.aol.com/krampf/home.html

for information on:

Watt is Electricity, the million volt electric show
The Nuts and Bolts of Lightning
Burning Questions, the science of fire safety
Educational consulting
Educator workshops

From Robert Krampf's Science Education Company
4850 A1A South
St. Augustine, FL 32084
(904) 471-4578