APSU scientists host youngsters for Tesla-powered fun
Austin Peay State University (APSU)
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University hosted several pre-K and elementary-aged children recently at a science demonstration at the school’s Sundquist Science Complex.
Kids watch as a metal ball moves SLOWLY through a liquid nitrogen-chilled magnet during a science demonstration at Austin Peay State University. (APSU)
The children first slipped into the University’s planetarium as Dr. J. Allyn Smith took them on a spin through the night sky.
Then the kids journeyed down the hall and took in several laboratory demonstrations led by Bryan Gaither, the APSU Department of Physics, Engineering and Astronomy’s lab manager.
The children watched (or took part in) demonstrations such as a vacuum cannon firing pingpong balls over 450 mph; a Tesla coil sparking a hydrogen-filled balloon to burst into flames; liquid nitrogen-chilled balloons re-inflating as the air inside them warmed; and liquid nitrogen-dipped roses, lettuce and onions shatter like porcelain.
Kids get ready to hurl liquid nitrogen-frozen roses, onions and lettuce into the floor. The flowers and produce shattered like porcelain. Chilled gas escapes from the liquid nitrogen-filled cooler in the foreground. (APSU)
Gaither put together the event following the success of similar demonstrations at this summer’s APSU Governor’s School for Computational Physics.
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
You must be logged in to post a comment.