Suction, Air Pressure and Lift Materials Required: A doorway Two thumbtacks A string Long, thin strips of paper A hair dryer with a cool setting A stapler or a tape You can pull up liquid along a piece of straw, by dipping one end in the drink and by sucking at it from the other end. This process is conducted by low pressure mechanism. You can test this out by inserting...

The Force of Air Materials Required: A square cheese cracker A square of paper A pencil with eraser A pin Between the tips of your thumb and middle finger, lightly hold the square cheese cracker. It will begin to rotate as you blow on it. Try and make a turning pinwheel. Take a 5-inch (12.50 cm) square of paper, as shown in the illustration. Deftly fold the corners of the paper....

Resistance to Air Materials Required: Three sheets of typing paper Aviation uses a word called “drag” a lot. This generally means the resistance of air to forward motion of an aircraft. As and when an object moves faster in the air, the air in the atmosphere tries to slow it down. With three sheets of regular typing paper, hold out your hand to arm’s length, with your palm upwards. Put one...

Rising Upwards Materials Required: Glycerin Water Pipe cleaner A toaster A small bowl Liquid soap A measuring cup A tablespoon An adult It is a known fact that hot air rises upwards. It was this principle of hot air, which in 1783, in France saw the first instance of a hot air balloon, rising to an altitude of 6,000 feet approximately. These hot air balloons were later used to carry weather...

Motion and Gravity Materials Required: An empty thread spool Some string Four small metal nuts Cotton Adhesive tape Scissors If you throw a ball up, it is pulled back under the influence of the force of gravity. However, this also proves that your throwing motion overcomes gravity for a short while. It is possible then for motion to overcome gravity. To prove this, attach three of the nuts that you have,...

Moving Energy Uphill Materials Required: A ruler Dominoes Have you ever wondered whether a wave of energy can move in an upward direction? It’s really very easy to find out. Take a long ruler and place two dominoes under it at one end, so that it can facilitate as a ramp. Now prop up a domino on the ramp, that you have constructed and see if it can stand up on...

Lifting Power Materials Required: Paper towel tubes Pencils with flat sides Rulers A hair dryer A table Scissors Two books of equal thickness The design of an airplane wing has a particular reason. The curve of the wing at the top causes the air travelling over it to travel a farther distance than the air that moves from below the wing. This mechanism makes the air move faster, causing a drop...

Gravitational Pull Materials Required: Modelling clay Cardboard Four rulers Two marbles of equal size Two marbles of different size A table An uncarpeted floor under the table Though the force of gravity has the same force for everything on the earth’s surface, have you ever imagined as to what would happen, if you were to drop two marbles at the same time, from the same height? Would there be any difference...