Favorite home experiments

[bloodavenger9]

dry ice + alcohol + milk in metalic bowl = instantaneous ice cream
scientific and delicious

i would try with liquid nitrogen but sadly no one would sell to me after that incident.......

[The EGE]

dry ice + alcohol + milk in metalic bowl = instantaneous ice cream
scientific and delicious

i would try with liquid nitrogen but sadly no one would sell to me after that incident.......

Alcohol ice cream? This sounds interesting...

[Mr_Rose]

dry ice + alcohol + milk in metalic bowl = instantaneous ice cream
scientific and delicious

i would try with liquid nitrogen but sadly no one would sell to me after that incident.......

Why? Heston Blumenthal gets away with it daily....

[3_of_8]

This February, I was taking part in a national chemistry competition and I was in a room with this other crazy chemist and, well, we got a bit bored and I had this piezo ignitor, so we took an old PET bottle, drilled a hole into the bottom, put a shredded tissue inside and with some other household stuff (including an empty box of sweets, a ballpoint pen, a tetra pak, duct tape, a drinking straw and some lighter fluid) we made a rocket that went up about 30 feet. We did not take the wind into account, unfortunately, which is why our first model landed on top of the youth hostel Göttingen and probably still lies there on the roof.

Whether his works or not is highly dependent of the type of bottle that is used, the diameter of the hole in the bottom and the lighter fluid. (It has to combust very quickly and easily, the tissues are there to increase the vapour pressure of the fuel)

[The_Duck]

A few weeks ago I did the alcohol cloud chamber experiment that is mentioned in this thread .

I got a sizeable clear glass jar with a metal lid (~6 inch diameter), and a block of dry ice of dimensions 10x10x2 inches.
Glued some felt into bottom of the jar.
Soaked the felt in 91% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.
Screwed the lid on tight.
Inverted the jar and set it on the dry ice so that the metal lid was in contact with the ice and the alcohol-soaked felt was at the top.
Carried the whole thing down into a dark basement room and probed the interior of the jar with a flashlight beam.

I needed to spend a while optimizing the illumination so that I could see the very faint mist falling through the bottom couple inches of air inside the jar. Glare and ambient light could easily drown it out. Once I got a good setup, though, I sometimes saw straight-line tracks appearing in the mist several times per minute. These were high-energy muons and electrons from cosmic ray showers or ambient radioactivity.

What's happening in the chamber is that the chilled air above the cold metal is supersaturated with alcohol vapor. When a high-energy particle streaks through the chamber, it ionizes the cylinder of air around its track, and the ions produced serve as nuclei for condensing droplets of liquid alcohol. So the tracks of high-energy particles are revealed by faint tracks of alcohol droplets in the air.

I next took apart a smoke detector and extracted the small radioactive americium-241 source that makes it work. I popped it into the chamber and now I saw on the order of a track a second. Sometimes I saw straight lines emerging from the source, which I believe were alpha particles emitted directly by radioactive decays. Mostly, though I saw jagged lines in the region around the source, not connected directly to it. Presumably some high-energy stuff was coming out of the source (gamma rays) and knocking electrons out of air molecules. These electrons bounced around a bit, making the jagged tracks.

It was very cool to be able to do a bit of particle physics in my basement. I found the particle tracks fascinating and spent many hours watching them.

If you're interested, there are lots of pages on the web about how to construct this kind of cloud chamber, and at least one youtube video that shows how to take apart a smoke detector to get at the radioactive americium inside. The supplies are pretty cheap; the dry ice cost me $15 from a local supplier, and the alcohol $2 from the drug store. The dry ice lasted about 24 hours before it sublimated completely away. If you do try it out, I would advise you that the single trickiest part of the experiment is the lighting. Pay attention to the suggestions on the web for how to do it. You also need to make sure that your chamber is airtight and that the part of the chamber in contact with the ice is metal, for good heat (cold) conduction.

[3_of_8]

No.
You can't see gamma rays in a cloud chamber. Alpha particles are thick and short lines, beta particles are thin, long and zig-zag lines and if you ever see a muon, it's look a lot like an alpha particle.

The lines you saw without a radioactive sample in the chamber was probably cosmic (radioactive isotopes of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon) and terrestrial radiation. (radioactive elements from the ground like uranium, potassium and radon) And some cosmic radiation, of course.

[Happyhannah]

I'm not sure if these have been posted before, but here are my favourite home experiments:

Making ice cream (no liquid nitrogen needed!):
- fill a large freezer bag with crushed ice
- add a few tablespoons of salt
- put some double cream (or whipping cream) in a smaller bag, with some sugar and flavouring (Bailey's Irish Cream also works well here)
- IMPORTANT! Seal this bag well!
- place inside bag of ice
- shake for about 5 minutes
- remove smaller bag, rinse salt off outside, snip off the corner and squeeze ice cream out

Make your webcam see into the IR and use TV remotes as torches in dark rooms
Instructions here

Playing with UV:
- buy a UV light
- have a gin and tonic
(note - most alcohol glows slightly, but tonic water is just beautiful! If you've not seen this, order one next time you're in a club with UV lighting)
Bank notes, credit cards and most official documents like passports also look awesome. Any Canadians here? Canadian passports are best - they have a complete colour image of your passport photo on the back page printed in UV ink

Jet engine:
- make a paper ball (note: also makes good water bomb)
- fill with lighter fluid (you can do this with a cigarette lighter)
- stand back and light the opening. It should whoosh a few feet across the room

Make a taser with a disposable camera:
- get a disposable camera with flash
- take it apart, you should see a very large capacitor with two wires going to the flash bulb
- cut these, leaving some bare wire
- press the button to charge the flash as normal, then touch the two bare wires to any conducting surface
BAM
Okay, seriously, it may only be a 1.5V battery but it is NOT safe to touch, be very careful. Try touching the back of a spoon - I've managed to melt two holes in a spoon with one of these before, so imagine what it would do to skin.. not good!

Have fun

[scikidus]

I need someone on these fora to build this and bring it to the next xkcd convention:

http://wimp.com/dangerousinvention/

What? This counts as a home experiment, right? It's definitely my favorite.

[Walter.Horvath]

I need someone on these fora to build this and bring it to the next xkcd convention:

http://wimp.com/dangerousinvention/

What? This counts as a home experiment, right? It's definitely my favorite.

HOLY SHIT I WANT!

[Tass]

I need someone on these fora to build this and bring it to the next xkcd convention:

http://wimp.com/dangerousinvention/

What? This counts as a home experiment, right? It's definitely my favorite.

HOLY SHIT I WANT!

I can't see it. What is it?

[Walter.Horvath]

Some kind of spiderman apparatus. Except for pyros. It shoots flames from your wrists.

[3_of_8]

Non-Newtonian fluid. Brilliant. I never got it to work though.

[Dlareg]

Nice experiment done at university:

Take two containers of about 1 m x 1 m.
Place outside in cold (it was minus 8 C then).
Now take two buckets of water each containing 10L
One with boiling water
the other at standard temperature (measured 13C)

Empty each in one of the two containers and have students measure the time it takes to fully freeze each (no water).

See students with the boiling one come in much earlier.

Reason:
Less water to start with, although same volume boiling water is "lighter"
Most of the hot water evaporates.

[Cobramaster]

Well since I am half of the Science demo team at my University I have a few good ones.

You can carbonate Fruit by storing in closed containers with dry ice. We do home made dip n dots with the liquid nitrogen.
I have made Nitrogen triiodide which is a very very very sensitive contact explosive to demonstrate rapid breakdown.
We set ice on fire using calcium carbide to make acetylene gas. Methanol and Oxygen in a soda bottle to make a rocket.
We blew up pumpkins at Halloween using the calcium carbide->Acetylene gas reaction.
And we have set ourselves on fire using every trick in the book to do so without being burned.

If I think of more or create more I will add them to the thread.

[Loke]

Silly fire related demonstration:
-Dip a paper on alcohol. Watch it burn when you put it on a lit match.
-Dip it on water. Watch it not burn.
- Dip it on both starting with water. Watch it flame and not burn!
I almost burned my school's labed while demonstrating this. it was rather funny, though. The vase with alcohol ignited somehow, due to a small piece of paper falling to it or something, and while I tried to carry it to the sink I screwed it up way more. The vase fell and all the flaming alcohol ran through the floor. Everybody screamt for a while until it consumed, oh and the floor was let very clean... But it can harm floors so don't try to clean your room like this... Oh and use newspaper paper, it burns less dangerously.

Making bronze coins silver and then golden:
It's pretty widely spread through the net, this experiment, and I'm not sure of how home is it. You need caustic soda and zinc or tin dust. You put the bronze coins inside of some kind of container with a few pearls of caustic soda and zinc or tin dust, with water too. You make that boil, I recommend you wait until the water completely evaporates. Then you clean the coins and they have become completely silvery. The silver goes away soon, not much after one hour. If you then put the coins next to a flame they will become golden, and that should last way more, like three days.

Pro-tip: Clean the coins with HCl before doing this, and if you are european and use euros in your country do it with 5 cent coins, they end looking like 20 cent coins =D You can buy 4 sweets for the price of one in many places ;D

Cat mind control tool:
Light the floor in front of your cat with a torch. Wiggle the torch in irregular patterns. Move it away from the cats reach. Voilà, you now have a telecontrolled cat. I've spent my whole evening doing this...

[Goemon]

Light the floor in front of your cat with a torch.

Note to Americans with visions of flaming carpet surrounding scorched feline: "torch" = "flashlight"

[Loke]

Light the floor in front of your cat with a torch.

Note to Americans with visions of flaming carpet surrounding scorched feline: "torch" = "flashlight"

Feline torch

Spoiler:

[LittleBigSpoon]

Non-Newtonian fluid. Brilliant. I never got it to work though.

Really? Isn't a pretty common one just cornflour and water? I'm not sure on the mass or volume ratio, but it's bound to be online.

[JCM]

I once tried to test whether or not hand sanitizer actually had an effect on the number of bacteria on my hand (killing 99.9% of germs just doesn't sound believable at first). However, I forgot to test the amount of bacteria on my hand before using the hand sanitizer, so I didn't really have anything to compare the bacteria on my hand afterwards to. Long story short, I gave up.

[Cold]

I made a shabby coilgun once, from an online instruction site. It's pretty cool, and I like the science behind it.

[Peter Galbavy]

Cat mind control tool:
Light the floor in front of your cat with a torch. Wiggle the torch in irregular patterns. Move it away from the cats reach. Voilà, you now have a telecontrolled cat. I've spent my whole evening doing this...

A small laser pointer works even better, especially on a wall. But BE CAREFUL to not get the light in the cats eyes!

Mine used to chirp like mad and it was better than catnip.

[SWGlassPit]

Cat mind control tool:
Light the floor in front of your cat with a torch. Wiggle the torch in irregular patterns. Move it away from the cats reach. Voilà, you now have a telecontrolled cat. I've spent my whole evening doing this...

A small laser pointer works even better, especially on a wall. But BE CAREFUL to not get the light in the cats eyes!

Mine used to chirp like made and it was better than catnip.

Note, if you have a dog, especially a lab or similar breed, your cat will not be able to play, as the dog will be an ass and hog the laser. If you crate the dog to prevent this, your dog will whine like mad.

[Peter Galbavy]

Simple solution. No Dog.

Currently also no cat(s), sadly.

[Meteorswarm]

All the cats I've known get wise to laser pointers after about a month or so, and get bored.

[SWGlassPit]

Mine did so until I put it away for a couple weeks, then all was new.

My dog, on the other hand knows exactly where that bright red dot comes from and doesn't care. If I set the laser pointer down on a table, she will stare at it intently, and if I leave it, she will nose it and paw at it. We actually had to put it away for a month or so because she was showing signs of addictive behavior toward the laser, including forgoing playing with other toys and even eating to stare at the drawer she thought the laser was in.

[DNA]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted this before, but I've always loved doing this one:

1- Make a solution of: 120mL water, 5mL of shampoo, 1.5g salt and 5g baking soda
1.5- Stuff your rubbing alcohol bottle into the freezer
2- Chill the solution
3- Dice then mash about half an onion (this part is the worst)
4- Put 10mL of the onion mush into a beaker and add 20mL of the first cold solution and stir a lot
5- Filter with a coffee filter (but leave pulp behind), fill up a test tube halfway (should be a clear liquid)
6- Hopefully your rubbing alcohol is chilled. Pipette some out with a straw and carefully let it run down the side of the test tube. You don't want it mixing with your solution. Stop when there's about 2cm of it floating on your solution.
7- Extremely gently, put a coffee stirrer (or preferably a glass rod) in the test tube. Then slowly twirl and stir the rod, it should spool some long strands of DNA on it! When you pull up the rod, the DNA will stick to the rod when it goes through the layer of alcohol.

Yay, you have the entire genetic code of an onion on your coffee stick!

[dragon]

I'm not sure if anyone has posted this before,

Maybe once or twice. Strawberries are the normal choice as they contain large amounts of DNA per cell and are easy to squish. And they don't make you cry. Why did you pick onions?!

This thread (which I also stumbled across while searching) is an interesting addenum. I would not advise trying to eat the DNA you've extracted if you used isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) in the extraction process.

[burkleypatterson]

There's nothing quite like rookie electrolysis with salt as an electrolyte! My mom was thrilled to come home to a kitchen wreaking of chlorine gas, not to mention the electrodes in a plastic mixing bowl!

PS: Don't use a direct AC current unless you want violent sparks, flickering lights, and the risk of death by electrocution!

[eternauta3k]

There's nothing quite like rookie electrolysis with salt as an electrolyte! My mom was thrilled to come home to a kitchen wreaking of chlorine gas, not to mention the electrodes in a plastic mixing bowl!

PS: Don't use a direct AC current unless you want violent sparks, flickering lights, and the risk of death by electrocution!

Actually, depending on pH, temp and other stuff, you can get various chlorine ions. I'm itching to try electrolysis of salt with a mercury cathode. You get sodium amalgamated in the mercury, but to get it out you have to distill it (boiling mercury = big no-no)

[oxoiron]

(boiling mercury = big no-no)

You seem to be wearing the proper equipment.

[eternauta3k]

(boiling mercury = big no-no)

You seem to be wearing the proper equipment.

I never enter my lab without my hat.

[oxoiron]

(boiling mercury = big no-no)

You seem to be wearing the proper equipment.

I never enter my lab without my hat.

I was referring to the tie and jacket, but a hat is good, too.

[ancienthart]

I'm a high school teacher, so of course I have to try these out at home first.

1. Take a candle, light it and keep the match lit. Blow it out. Now quickly put the lit match into the smoke that comes off the wick. The flame from the match flows down the smoke (as long as it's not to far away) and relights the wick.

2. Take a 1.25L softdrink bottle. Put 10mL of ethanol into the bottle, recap it, shake light crazy. Put the bottle on the ground, remove the cap, and using a long match or lit taper, light the end of the bottle. This produces a pulsejet setup that fires the bottle across the floor. Only works once for each softdrink bottle though. I should mention that I did this on a hard, concrete floor, not carpet.

3. Light up a laser pointer in a completely dark room. The light bouncing off the walls covers the entire room with a speckled diffraction pattern.

4. Fill the bottom of a large container with dry ice and wait for the container to fill with carbon dioxide. Now comes the hard part. Gently blow soap bubbles into the container. If you do it right, the soap bubble will float on the carbon dioxide, seemingly in mid-air. After some time, the bubbles get bigger (absorbing CO2) and the bubble sinks deeper into the CO2 layer.

[eternauta3k]

I'm a high school teacher, so of course I have to try these out at home first.

1. Take a candle, light it and keep the match lit. Blow it out. Now quickly put the lit match into the smoke that comes off the wick. The flame from the match flows down the smoke (as long as it's not to far away) and relights the wick.

2. Take a 1.25L softdrink bottle. Put 10mL of ethanol into the bottle, recap it, shake light crazy. Put the bottle on the ground, remove the cap, and using a long match or lit taper, light the end of the bottle. This produces a pulsejet setup that fires the bottle across the floor. Only works once for each softdrink bottle though. I should mention that I did this on a hard, concrete floor, not carpet.

3. Light up a laser pointer in a completely dark room. The light bouncing off the walls covers the entire room with a speckled diffraction pattern.

4. Fill the bottom of a large container with dry ice and wait for the container to fill with carbon dioxide. Now comes the hard part. Gently blow soap bubbles into the container. If you do it right, the soap bubble will float on the carbon dioxide, seemingly in mid-air. After some time, the bubbles get bigger (absorbing CO2) and the bubble sinks deeper into the CO2 layer.

It was mentioned some pages ago. It seems you can make the bubbles freeze with dry ice

[Cobramaster]

I'm a high school teacher, so of course I have to try these out at home first.

1. Take a candle, light it and keep the match lit. Blow it out. Now quickly put the lit match into the smoke that comes off the wick. The flame from the match flows down the smoke (as long as it's not to far away) and relights the wick.

2. Take a 1.25L softdrink bottle. Put 10mL of ethanol into the bottle, recap it, shake light crazy. Put the bottle on the ground, remove the cap, and using a long match or lit taper, light the end of the bottle. This produces a pulsejet setup that fires the bottle across the floor. Only works once for each softdrink bottle though. I should mention that I did this on a hard, concrete floor, not carpet.

3. Light up a laser pointer in a completely dark room. The light bouncing off the walls covers the entire room with a speckled diffraction pattern.

4. Fill the bottom of a large container with dry ice and wait for the container to fill with carbon dioxide. Now comes the hard part. Gently blow soap bubbles into the container. If you do it right, the soap bubble will float on the carbon dioxide, seemingly in mid-air. After some time, the bubbles get bigger (absorbing CO2) and the bubble sinks deeper into the CO2 layer.

On number 2 If you put the cap on the bottle as soon as the flames go out you can demonstrate PV=nRT it has become part of our standard bag o' trickses for science nights at the various local schools.

[wbeaty]

Hey, Rich O. below made a Wilson Cloud Chamber without dry ice:

Double stack of CPU coolers (Peltier thermoelectric module), w/large heat sink below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKfx4Rjf0BU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFizFjlIA4A

[Fume Troll]

2. Take a 1.25L softdrink bottle. Put 10mL of ethanol into the bottle, recap it, shake light crazy. Put the bottle on the ground, remove the cap, and using a long match or lit taper, light the end of the bottle. This produces a pulsejet setup that fires the bottle across the floor. Only works once for each softdrink bottle though. I should mention that I did this on a hard, concrete floor, not carpet.

The jam-jar pulse jet works well too. But may be a wee bit dangerous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AePLpM5SnqE

[LucasBrown]

The Kaye effect

[SubitC]

1)Take a commercially available deodrant (preferably with a strong dispersing nozzle).
2)Take a cigarette lighter and put it to max. flame strength.
3)Take the nozzle very close to the lighter flame and blow through the flame.

You have your very own mini flamethrower.
P.S. Use gloves to hold the lighter. Don't ever point it towards anybody and don't tell the police.

[leonard3314]

don't know if anyone did this one but
The Works Bomb:
1. Get some tin foil.
2. tear and crumple into little balls, small enough to fit into a 20oz soda bottle
3. get soda bottle and put the tin foil balls in, about up to the bottom of the label.
4. pour toilet cleaner (The Works brand does it the best) into the bottle. do a little experimenting to find out how much to use, i usually just filled it up to about where my tin foil balls were.
5. shake, throw, move.
6. watch cool explosion.


Also Thermite is relatively easy to make, just the proper mix of rust and aluminum filings. you can definitely have some fun with that.