Center of Gravity Materials Required: A 12-inch ruler Ten coins A pencil with flat sides A table Gravity is the attraction, which objects have for each other. Gravity also keeps the planets orbiting in space around the sun and the earth’s gravity also attracts objects to the ground. Try balancing something on your shoulder and determine at which point the object was resting on your shoulder. Also try and balance a spoon...

Air Friction Materials Required: Two-inch square cloth Some thread Two small metal nuts of the same size Modelling clay Scissors Proximity to a place of height. You skin your knee, when you run and fall due to the force of gravity. If you are at a higher position, then you fall faster. Parachutes can save a pilot’s life, if his plane is in trouble. A parachute uses the mechanism of air...

Lighting Up Materials Required: Light from a fluorescent tube Light from an incandescent bulb Pencil and paper Electric energy is converted into light energy, in the case of both fluorescent tubes and incandescent bulbs.  In the case of the latter, electricity goes in through a small wire called the filament, which then gives us the light we need. In the case of the former, it is filled with gas. The inside...

The Magic Propeller Materials Required: Two pencils A file and a pin A rectangular piece of cardboard Cut notches along the edge of a pencil. Stick a pin through the centre of the cardboard and attach it to the pencil’s eraser, as in the illustration. The hole in the “propeller” must be a bit larger than the pin, in order to cut down on friction. In your left hand, hold the...

Stronger than Gravity Materials Required: A shoe box Some thread A magnet Construction paper Adhesive tape Paper clips Some crayons Gravity keeps us from floating up in the air and gravity exists in all planets and stars which pull things to them. If you keep something very heavy in your hand, you shall realize the force of gravity, as it will keep pulling your hand down towards the ground. However, you...

Rolling Backward Materials Required: Two cardboard disks of about 3 inch (7.5 cm) An empty wooden spool Some strings Cut out the disks from a cardboard. Use glue to stick them to the ends of an empty wooden spool. Take the string and wrap some around the spool. Now pull the free end as in the illustration. The question is will the spool roll away? Come towards you or will it...

Magnetic Forces Materials Required: A strong magnet Stapler pins Two glasses Two books A pencil A cylindrically shaped balloon A freezer A ruler An invisible form of energy, magnetism can actually pass through air. But the question is – can magnetism also pass through water? What is the essence of water as ice? Would that affect magnetic forces? To find out, fill a cylindrical shaped balloon with water. Remember that you...

Inertia that Sticks Materials Required: A matchbox A paper match A cylindrical cork Three impossible feats can be pulled off, if you can be a little sneaky. It is fun and a great source of entertainment for your friends. Consider these three feats: 1.Drop a matchbox from a height of six inches(15 centimetres) over a table top, so that it lands on its end and remains upright. 2.Drop a paper match...