Spooky Science: At-home Halloween experiments for kids
Calling all mad scientists!
Halloween is approaching and to get kids in the Halloween spirit, Ms. Covey Denton stopped by WITN News at Sunrise Tuesday to present three at-home science experiments for children.
Here are Ms. Denton’s descriptions and explanations for the following experiments:
My Van De Graaff machine generates static electricity. There really isn't a ghost in my machine, but the static electricity generated produces a lot of electrons. It is very similar to walking across a carpet in woolen socks. Those electrons flow into my pie tins. Since all of the pie tins have the same charge, they push apart from one another, since opposites attract and like charges repel, so they fly all over the studio.
Here is a fun simulation where you can see what is happening can be found
With your own ghosts, you are going to create a negative charge on a rod of PVC pipe and a negative charge on a ring from a produce bag. Because both will have a negative charge, they will push apart and you can make your ghostly ring float!
I can control this bottle with my mind... can you? Maybe there is a ghost in the bottle causing it to go up and down?? Nope! This is called a cartesian diver. When you squeeze the sides of the bottle, you are increasing the pressure on the liquid inside. That means you are also increasing pressure on the eyedropper itself.
If you squeeze hard enough and you will push some more water up inside the dropper. The air inside the dropper squeezes tighter as more water is forced in. When you push more water inside the dropper, you increase its overall density.
Once its density is greater than that of its surroundings, it will sink. Release the pressure on the bottle’s sides and you stop forcing water inside the eyedropper. The air inside it will now push out the extra water again and the eyedropper will rise. You can make the diver out of a ketchup packet, an eyedropper or even a straw and clay. Just test it first to make sure that it barely floats in the water before you stick it in the bottle.
To make Monster Spit you need 1 cup of white vinegar and 1 TBSP dish soap. Mix well and add food coloring if desired.
To make the barfing ghosts, take an empty creamer bottle and draw on a face. Cut a small hole for the mouth. Put about 1/4 cup baking soda into the bottle. Add about 1/2 cup of Monster Spit and the ghost will throw up. The bubbles catch the carbon dioxide that is released when the vinegar and baking soda mix.
Check if out for yourself with Lydia Denton’s video
