7 Mad Science Experiments You Can Do At Home But Probably Shouldn't

By the time you finish reading this article, you will undoubtedly think of Theo Gray when you hear someone say "mad scientist."

Theo, a columnist for the magazine Popular Science, recently published a book titled Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do At Home - But Probably Shouldn't. The book is full of experiments so outrageous (Ignite your own phosphorus sun in a globe filled with pure oxygen! Make your own shotgun ammo by pouring molten lead off the roof! Heat a hot tub with 500 pounds of quicklime!) that it sounds like a parent's nightmare. It's actually quite the opposite: there's no a better way to spark the imagination of the young minds of proto-scientists than to bring science to life with Theo's hands-on experiments. Yes, these are dangerous experiments but that's why they're so much fun!

Behind the gorgeous photos of each experiment, there is solid science explained in clear, accessible language with a little dash of humor that made Theo's monthly PopSci column so popular. You'll see. Let's dive into the excerpts of the Mad Science book. Here's Neatorama's premiere Spotlight article, 7 Mad Science Experiments You Can Do At Home But Probably Shouldn't, by Theo Gray ...


1. Gag with a Spoon: The Melting Spoon Prank



DISAPPEARING ACT - A steaming cup of water liquefies the spoon in
about 15 seconds - notice the puddle at the bottom of the cup. Photo:
Jeff Sciortino.

With the right mix of metals, you can make an alloy that turns
to liquid at nearly any temperature.

Mention liquid metal, and people immediately think of mercury. After
all, it is the only metal that isn't solid at room temperature. Well,
not quite - it's the only pure metal, but there are many alloys (mixtures
of metals) that will melt well below that point. For example, the mercury-filled
fever thermometers that children were told not to play with in the 1950s
and '60s have been replaced by virtually identical ones containing the
far less toxic Galinstan, a patented liquid alloy of gallium, indium and
tin.

Those who were kids in that era may also remember playing with another
low-melting-point alloy: trick spoons that melted when you tried to stir
your coffee with them. These were made with a blend that, no surprise,
was highly toxic; it typically contained cadmium, lead, mercury or all
three. But, as it happens, it's possible to make alloys that liquefy in
a hot drink using safer components.

A few months ago I created a batch of these prank spoons as a gift for
my friend and fellow element buff Oliver Sacks (author of Awakenings
and Uncle
Tungsten
).
I cast jewelers' molding rubber around a fancy spoon to form the mold.
Then I looked up the formula for an alloy that would melt at 140 °F,
roughly the temperature of a cup of hot coffee, and found this one: 51
percent indium, 32.5 percent bismuth and 16.5 percent tin.

After the spoon turns to a puddle at the bottom of the cup, you can pour
off the liquid and touch the metal, feeling the weird sensation of it
hardening around your fingertip. When Sacks has used up all his spoons,
he can easily recover the metal, melt it again over a cup of hot water,
pour it into the mold, and make new ones - the trick-spoon circle of life.

So why can't you buy these nontoxic prank utensils in toy stores, as
you could the toxic versions of years past? Price. Indium costs about
three times as much as silver. (I get mine from a bulk supplier in China.)
Using gallium, you can make alloys that melt in lukewarm water or even
in your hand, but it's more expensive than indium, and it tends to stain
the glass and discolor skin. Unfortunately, no alloy replicates the low
cost, bright shine and nonstick fun of mercury. Too bad we know now that
playing with it for too long can give you brain damage.



How To Create a Melting Spoon













WHAT YOU NEED    

Bismuth, indium and tin

Stainless-steel pan

Rubber or plastic spoon mold










Make
a mold by casting or forming jewelers' rubber around the object
you want to duplicate.

Weigh
out the metals in the correct ratio: 51 percent indium, 32.5 percent
bismuth and 16.5 percent tin. If you're within a gram, it'll still
work.

Combine
the ingredients in a stainless-steel measuring cup and heat directly
on a stove over low heat. You'll need to go well beyond the melting
point of the final alloy in order to get the tin and bismuth to
combine with the indium. Stir continuously.


Let
the alloy cool, then reheat it over nearly boiling water. A double-boiler
works, or you can just hold the measuring cup in the hot water
for a minute or two.

Pour
the molten metal into the mold. While it may be tempting to hold
the mold in your hand, the metal is hot enough that it will burn
if you spill too much on yourself. It is no more, but also not
any less, dangerous than boiling water.


Wait
until you are sure the metal has solidified in the mold. This
may take longer than you think since the melting point is so low.

Carefully
extract the spoon from the mold.

Enjoy!
Stirred in nearly boiling water, a typical spoon will melt in
seconds.




Official webpage: Gag
with a Spoon

2. Calling Van Helsing: How to Build Your Own Werewolf Killers



BULLET PARTS - [from left] Bullion bars and rounds, the cheapest source
of pure silver; the graphite mold, opened after casting a bullet; the
profile bit used to machine the mold; silver bullets as cast and polished
to a mirror finish. Photo: Mike Walker.



(L) TURNING THE BIT - Using a lathe to create the milling bit that will
be used to make the graphite mold. (R) LIQUID METAL - Molten silver at
1,800 °F pours into a graphite bullet mold from an electric jewelers'
melting cup. Photos: Mike Walker.

Suss the myth from the reality with a hands-on investigation
into the original anti-werewolf weapon.

Like darning socks, making bullets is a dying art. Used to be just about
everyone with a need for ammo poured their own, using iron or even wooden
molds. These days only a few diehard hobbyists still do it, and they use
aluminum molds. But even fewer people still make silver bullets.

Actually, not many people ever made silver bullets. It's a difficult
process, and their efficacy against werewolves has never been scientifically
proven. I suppose their renown came from the perception that silver was
a distinguished metal, often spoken of in connection with its higher class
cousin, gold. But today silver is far more common, and it tarnishes over
time, primarily because of sulfur pollution from power plants. (By and
large, it didn't tarnish before the Industrial Age.)

I couldn't find any references describing real historical silver-bullet-crafting
techniques. At 1,764 °F, molten silver would ruin traditional and
modern bullet molds. They could have been fashioned using jewelers' methods,
but that would require a new plaster mold for every bullet. Frankly, I
think people spent a lot more time talking about silver bullets than they
did turning them out.

I don't like legends that are all talk, so I decided to see what it takes
to produce a real silver bullet: not plated, not sterling - pure silver.

To create the mold, I first had to construct a bit. I used a lathe to
turn a steel rod into a bullet-like shape, then used a milling machine
to cut away a quarter-circle wedge of the rod, leaving a sharp cutting
edge. Basically I had built a router bit shaped like a bullet. (I've fabricated
bits like this freehand with a file, which works fine; it just takes longer.
Much longer.)

After using the bit to machine the graphite bullet mold, I used an electrically
heated graphite crucible to pour in the 0.999 fine liquid silver at about
2,000 °F, which is 230 °F above its melting point. The mold must
be preheated with a blowtorch to keep the silver from solidifying before
it fills the whole cavity. One of the benefits of using graphite is that
it keeps the silver from oxidizing, so bullets come out bright and shiny.

Would a silver bullet really fire? Probably. (Though, not being an experienced
gunsmith, I would never be foolish enough to try my bullets in a real
gun.) Bullets need to be fairly soft so that they can take on the shape
of spiral grooves in the gun's barrel, and pure silver is moderately soft.
It's also similar in density to lead, so it should have similar aerodynamics
and muzzle velocity. I'd guess silver would make a very nice nontoxic
substitute for lead in bullets. Too bad about the cost: These one-ounce,
large-caliber rifle bullets use about $12 worth of silver per shot - best
reserved for only the most severe werewolf infestations.



How To Build Your Own Werewolf Killers























WHAT YOU NEED    

Several ounces of silver

Graphite blocks

Milling machine

Jewelers' melting cup

Lathe

Fire extinguisher

Safety glasses
   




There are several ways to make mold suitable for casting silver.
This is the method I used, not necessarily the best method. Whatever you
do, don't ever try firing silver bullets out of real guns, which are designed
for lead ammunition. While relatively soft compared to other metals, silver
is still harder than lead and will act differently. The likely outcome
of such an attempt is death by explosive failure of the firearm.











Start
with a steel rod slightly larger in diameter than the bullet you
want to make, and place it in a metal lathe. Machine the shape
of bullet you want. I made something like a Civil War-era bullet,
or at least what I vaguely remember such bullets looking like
from pictures I might have seen years ago. You're not going to
actually use this bullet, so the exact shape is not important.

Turn
down the shaft to about 1/4-inch diameter for a distance of about
3/8 inch. This will become the pour hole.

Clamp
the bullet shaped rod horizontally on a milling machine table
and use a square-end mill to cut out less than a quarter of the
material. Now you've got a simple milling bit shaped like a bullet.
There is no need to sharpen it, as graphite is extremely soft.

Cut
and machine smooth two 1-inch-thick blocks of graphite about 2
inches square. Clamp them together to form a 2-inch-thick block,
then drill four 1/4-inch holes through both blocks at the corners.

Separate
the two blocks by about an inch and clamp them together, at the
same time in the same vice, then position the bullet-shaped bit
between them.

Use
the milling machine to cut into one of the two blocks. Cut exactly
half the diameter of the bit, forming half a mold. Move the table
in the opposite direction and cut exactly halfway into the second
block, forming the other half of the mold.

Assemble
the mold with 1/4-inch steel rods through the four index holes.
If necessary, enlarge the top of the pour hole with a countersinking
bit to form a convenient cone shape.

Melt
a couple of ounces of pure silver (99.9 percent silver is recommended
for werewolves) using a jewelers' melting cup.

Pour
the silver into the mold and allow to cool. If you get incomplete
bullets, it's because the silver is hardening before it fills
the mold. The solution is to heat up the mold with a torch before
pouring in the silver.

When
the mold is cold, pull it apart. Saw off the sprue and file down
the back end of the bullet, then polish to a mirror finish, since
you're going to be displaying this bullet proudly, not actually
using it in a gun.




Official webpage: Calling
Van Helsing

3. Build Your Own Lightbulb



A VERY BIG BULB - The stick welder [left] provides enough juice to
heat a tungsten rod to nearly 5,000 °F. The ice bucket acts as the
bulb, and the helium displaces oxygen. Photo: Mike Walker.

Act as if you're smarter than Edison: Construct a lightbulb the
modern way with some helium and an old welder.

Thomas Edison famously spent months trying to make a lightbulb work.
He tested one material after another in an evacuated bell jar before he
finally got a carbon filament to burn long enough to sell it with a straight
face. When I had a free afternoon recently, I thought I'd see if I could
do it too.

Edison's first mistake was living before tungsten wire was available.
Tungsten is way better than carbon as a filament material, and now you
can find it in any metal-supply shop. It lasts longer, is less brittle,
and glows with a cleaner, whiter light. His second mistake, repeated in
classroom physics demonstrations to this day, was using a vacuum to get
the air out of the bulb. Clearing out the air is important because at
yellow to white heat (3,500 °F to 5,000 °F), pretty much all known
materials, even tungsten filament wire, react with oxygen and burn up
in a few seconds. Remove the oxygen, and the wire can't burn. But a vacuum
is the hard way to solve that problem. You need an expensive vacuum pump,
a thick glass bell jar to withstand the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere,
and several nonleaking pipe joints.

It's a whole lot easier to just displace the air with an inert gas that's
at the same pressure as the surrounding air, which is how most modern
bulbs work. Common household lightbulbs use a mixture of argon and nitrogen.
Fancy krypton flashlights and xenon headlamps use those eponymous heavier
noble gases to allow the filament to burn longer and hotter.

I used helium because it's easily available and lighter than air, allowing
me to fill my bulb, an upside down glass ice bucket (wedding present,
I believe), from the bottom. The helium floated up, displacing the air
inside. With a steady stream flowing in, I didn't even need to seal the
bucket very well - I just wrapped a sheet of tinfoil over the bottom to
keep eddies of air from wafting in.

For a filament, I used a thick tungsten wire I had lying around the shop
and, for the power supply, a small stick welder I got at an auction. It
supplied about 50 amps at 30 volts, giving me a 1,500 watt bulb. When
I powered up the filament without the bucket in place, it produced a prodigious
quantity of tungsten-oxide smoke and didn't last very long. But with the
bucket on and a steady flow of helium, the filament glowed brightly and
cleanly.

It must have been truly thrilling for Edison when he finally got one
of these things to work for the first time. I know I was thrilled, even
though I slaved over mine for only about 30 minutes and it worked perfectly
the first time - well, the first time I didn't forget to turn on the helium.


How To Turn a Jar Into a Lightbulb


















WHAT YOU NEED    

Tank of pure helium or argon

Tungsten welding rod or thick tungsten wire

Transparent bucket or large-mouth jar

Stick welder

Tinfoil or plastic wrap

Safety glasses










Clamp
a 1/16-inch diameter tungsten welding electrode (available at
any welding supply store or well-stocked hardware store) between
the two electrode clamps of a stick welder that have been secured
in an upright position.

Invert
a glass bowl or pitcher over the setup, but keep the glass well
away from the electrode and clamps.

Seal
the bottom loosely with tinfoil (don't let it short out the electrodes).

Run
a tube from a helium tank through the tinfoil. Use pure helium,
not balloon helium, which sometimes has oxygen mixed in to prevent
asphyxiation.

Turn
on the helium and keep a steady stream flowing into the bowl.
It will rise to the top and eventually fill the container.

Turn
on the welder and stand by to switch it off in a hurry if things
get out of hand. Potential problems include the glass breaking
from the heat, or the electrode burning through the glass. If
the electrode smokes, it means there's not enough helium in the
container, or your helium is not pure.

Alternately,
use a tank of argon, in which case the bowl should be right side
up with the electrodes coming down from the top (because argon
is heavier than air).




Official webpage: Build
Your Own Lightbulb

4. Making a Deadly Sun



ONE BAD BALL - A white phosphorus 'sun'. The smoke is phosphorus pentoxide.
Photo: Mike Walker.



HUNK O' BURNING SUN - White phosphorus burning in air glows with a phosphorescent
beauty. Photo: Mike Walker.



(1) Suspend the white phosphorus in the center of a lobe filled with pure
oxygen. (2) The burning phosphorus rapidly fills the globe with thick
white smoke. (3) The chip of phosphorus burns energetically for more than
a minute. (4) CLOUDY SUN - It takes about a minute for the phosphorus
to burn itself up, leaving only smoke. Photo: Mike Walker.

From urine to firebombs - white phosphorus is among the nastiest
of elements.

In 1669 the pompous German alchemist Hennig Brandt accidentally discovered
white phosphorus while boiling urine in Hamburg. He became the talk of
the town by demonstrating its amazing luminous powers to scientists and
dignitaries.

In a cruel irony, 274 years later the discovery he'd hoped would turn
lead into gold instead turned his city to ashes when a thousand tons of
white-phosphorus incendiary bombs created one of the great firestorms
of World War II; 37,000 people died when the sky burned over Hamburg.
Yet even today, white phosphorus is still used as a weapon.

I've used red phosphorus to make a batch of kitchen matches. Although
both red and white phosphorus contain nothing but the pure element, red
is mostly harmless on its own, whereas white is near the top in every
category of dangerous. It'll ignite spontaneously and burn vigorously
until you deprive it of oxygen. One tenth of a gram inhaled is fatal,
and smaller doses over time can make your jaw fall off (seriously - it's
called phossy jaw).

The difference is that white phosphorus is a waxy paste consisting of
highly strained atoms bound into tetrahedrons. The energy in their chemical
bonds is bursting to get out, causing white's high reactivity. The atoms
of red phosphorus are linked in relatively stable chains. Same element,
very different properties.

Brandt was trying to turn lead into gold, and finding a substance that
glows in the dark seemed like a big step in the right direction. Of course,
it wasn't, and he died poor after spending two wives' fortunes on boiled
urine. (Alchemists were obsessed with urine because it's yellow and they
were trying to make gold. Transmuting lead into gold is possible, but
it turns out you need a nuclear reactor, not buckets of pee.)

Still, the discovery of white phosphorus was an important one in early
chemistry. These days it is used in many ways, including the phosphoric
acid in nearly all colas. It's also used in a particularly beautiful classroom
demonstration of its extreme flammability and brilliant yellow light.
Just hope you never see that light in your neighborhood.


How To Contain a Phosphorus Sun























WHAT YOU NEED    

Half a gram of white phosphorus

Pure oxygen gas or liquid oxygen

Fire extinguisher

16-inch-glass globe

Fume hood

Safety glass

Rubber gloves
   










Suspend
about half a gram of white phosphorus in the center of a globe filled
with pure oxygen, then touch it with the end of a warm rod to ignite
it.
The
burning phosphorus rapidly fills the globe with thick white smoke,
demonstrating one of its military applications: as a smoke screen.
The
chip of phosphorus burns energetically for more than a minute. The
resulting glowing ball is what gives rise to the term "phosphorus
sun."



REAL
DANGER ALERT:
White phosphorus is extremely toxic: A tenth of
a gram can be fatal. It catches fire at a temperature only slightly above
room temperature and is illegal to possess in many states.



Official webpage: Making
a Deadly Sun

5. Trap Lightning in a Block




[YouTube Clip]

Freeze a charge screaming through solid plastic - or printer
toner - to see how electricity moves.

There are many unusual things to see around Newton Falls, Ohio - the
Wal-Mart with hitching posts for Amish buggies, the Army base with helicopters
and tanks proudly arranged on hills - but I was here for the most unusual
thing of all: the local Dynamitron. I was here to make frozen lightning.

The Kent State Neo Beam facility's Dynamitron is a four-story-tall, five-million-volt
particle accelerator much like a tube TV, only bigger (Yes, tube TVs are
domestic particle accelerators.) Both Dynamitrons and TVs use high voltages
and magnets to slam electrons into a target. In a TV, that's the phosphor
screen; in this Dynamitron, it's usually plastic plumbing components being
hardened by the beam. But when I joined the team of retired electrical
engineer Bert Hickman and physicists Bill Hathaway and Kim Goins, the
product was Lichtenberg figures, lightning bolts permanently recorded
in a block of clear acrylic.

With the Dynamitron - rented for the day - adjusted to around three million
volts, it blasts electrons about halfway through half-inch-thick pieces
of acrylic sheet. The plastic is a very good insulator, so it traps the
electrons inside. Coming out of the machine, the blocks don't look any
different, but they hold a hornet's nest of electrons desperate to get
out.

Left alone, the electrons will stay trapped for hours, but a knock with
a sharp point opens a path for them to make a quick escape. Electrons
gather from all parts of the block, joining up to form larger and larger
streams of electric current on their way toward the exit point. As the
charge leaves, it heats up and damages the plastic along the branching
trails it follows, leaving a permanent trace of its path. If you could
see inside a thundercloud in the nanoseconds before a bolt of lightning
emerged, you would see the same kind of pattern. The bolt doesn't just
pop up fully formed; it has to gather charge from all over the cloud.

You can create similar, if less permanent Lichtenberg figures using toner
powder from a copier or printer and any common source of static electricity.
This is how German scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg first did it
in the late 18th century (he used powdered sulfur), which at the time
represented one of the great discoveries in the history of electricity.
Today, the figures are a great way to learn about electrical discharge
- and can make a cool souvenir from an afternoon with a very expensive
machine.


How To Make Your Own Lightning Pattern


















WHAT YOU NEED    

Wimshurst or Van de Graaff static electricity machine

Metal point and wire

Clean, dry, untreated acrylic sheet

Toner powder
   










Place
a sharp metal point so it touches the center of a sheet of insulating
material. (Lichtenberg used resin made from tree sap; today, clear
acrylic works well.)
Use
a Wimshurst machine, a Van de Graaff generator, or vigorous shuffling
on shag carpeting to build up static electricity, and then touch
the metal point with your finger or with the machine's electrode
to discharge it.

This forms a pattern of stranded charge on the plastic. The Lichtenberg
figure is there; you just can't see it.
Blow
toner powder over the surface. It will stick to the static electricity,
revealing a beautiful Lichtenberg figure. Lichtenberg's discovery
ultimately led to photocopiers and laser printers, where the charge
is laid down in patterns of words and images.



Official webpage: Trap
Lightning in a Block

6. Nickel Growing in Trees



WASTE NUT - These nodules of chrome and nickel build up over time
from the process of electroplating bumpers. Photo: Chuck Shotwell.



Electroplating uses electricity to turn dissolved ions into a thin layer
of solid metal bonded to a surface. Photo: Chuck Shotwell.

Electroplating makes bumpers shiny and rustproof. It also makes
these beautiful bits of industrial waste.

If there were a contest for most attractive industrial waste, these nickel-chromium
nodules would win hands-down. As intricate as the veins on a leaf, brighter
than a '57 Chevy in the noonday sun, they grow naturally in tanks of chemicals
simmering gently in a bumper factory somewhere in the Midwest. Eventually
workers whack them off with hammers and dump them in barrels for recycling.

Bumpers are stamped out of steel and elecroplated with a thousandth of
an inch of nickel (for rustproofing) followed by 65 billionths of an inch
of mirror-bright chromium (for shine). Everything you see is chromium,
yet it represents no more than a millionth the weight of the bumper.

Electroplating uses electricity to turn dissolved ions into solid metal
bonded to a surface. Bumpers sit in a vat of acid containing dissolved,
positively charged nickel ions. A current is run through the solution,
forcing negatively charged electrons from the bumper into each nickel
ion, neutralizing it. The ions bond to the bumper, plating it with a very
thin layer of solid metal. After the nickel is applied, robot cranes transfer
the bumpers to tanks of chromic acid, where the same process adds a coating
of chrome.

Titanium bolts and T-shaped wing nuts attach the bumpers to titanium
frames carrying about 10,000 amps at around three volts. The bolts, nuts
and frames are coated with rubber-like insulation, but it's never perfect.
Tiny cracks and nicks form over time, allowing electrons to escape and
the metal to start depositing. Bumpers go through the line only once,
but the frames and T-nuts are dipped repeatedly. Over dozens of chrome
and nickel baths, these wonderful nodules build up.

In a week, the factory I visited turns tons of nickel and chrome into
thousands of gleaming beauties. It also makes about 10,000 bumpers.

Official webpage: Nickel
Growing in Trees

7. Shattering the Strongest Glass










[YouTube Clip]



SHATTERED GLASS - A piece of tempered glass shatters all over from
a blow to one corner.

Explosive glass drops demonstrate why your car windshield is
so strong and safe.

If you want a scientific display of the dangers of pent-up stress, Prince
Rupert's drops are it. After the trauma of being dropped molten-hot into
a bucket of cold water, these glass balls, named for a 17th-century amateur
scientist, turn into bundles of high tension. They're impervious to even
the strongest blows, until you find their hot button: Flick the tail,
and they explode.

When molten glass hits cold water, its outer surface cools rapidly and
shrinks as it solidifies. Since the center is still fluid, it can flow
to adjust to the outer shell's smaller size. As the center eventually
cools and solidifies, it also shrinks, but now the outer shell is already
solid and can't change its shape to accommodate the smaller core.

The result is a great deal of internal stress, as the center pulls the
outside in from all sides. Like a tightly wound spring, the glass is set
to release a lot of energy. If you break the thin glass at the tail, a
chain reaction travels like a shock wave through the drop. As each section
breaks, it releases enough energy to break the next section, and so on,
shattering the whole drop in less than a millisecond.

Paradoxically, the same tension also makes the Prince Rupert's drop stronger.
Glass breaks when tiny scratches pull apart and spread into fractures.
Since the surface is compressed by internal stress, scratches can't grow,
and the glass is very difficult to break. I took a hammer to the thick
end of some drops, which I got from a local glassmaker, and they stayed
intact. Even the tail is stronger than it looks.

Tempered glass, common in cars and glass doors, works the same way. Jets
of cold air are used to rapidly (but not too rapidly) cool the surface
of hot sheets of glass, creating a milder internal tension that keeps
the surface compressed at all times. That's why tempered glass is extremely
strong but shatters into thousands of pieces when it does finally break.
This shattering actually makes it safer, because there are no large pieces
to act like knives or spears. The lesson here is that stress makes you
stronger but inside that tough exterior lurks a potential explosion. And
stay off my tail, OK?


How To Make and Break Glass


















WHAT YOU NEED    

Glass makers' furnace

Metal rod to pick up molten glass

Water about one foot deep

Safety glasses
   




Note: Creating Prince Rupert's drop requires a glass-melting furnace,
typically a gas-powered kiln-type affair with a clay pot full of molten
glass. If you don't have one, find a local art glass studio and sweet-talk
your way in.









Fill
a bucket or tank with water at least a foot or so deep.

Take
a dollop of molten glass out of the pot with a metal pole (the
type used for glassblowing), rotating it constantly to keep the
glass centered on end.

Move
the glass over the tank of water and stop rotating the rod, allowing
the blob of glass to drip off the end and into the water.

After
20 seconds or so, the drop will cool enough to be removed from
the water (if it didn't shatter spontaneously while cooling).
Wear eye protection! These little buggers will go off at the slightest
provocation.

The
drops typically come with very long tails, up to several feet
long. When you're ready, and wearing full wraparound eye protection,
snap the tail.

Get
out the broom, because you've just acquired a roomful of glass
sand.




Official webpage: Shattering
the Strongest Glass

About
Theo Gray

Theo Gray is the author of Popular Science magazine's "Gray
Matter" column, the proprietor of periodictable.com, and
the creator of the iconic photographic periodic-table poster seen in universities,
schools, museums and TV shows from MythBusters to Hannah
Montana
. In his other life, he is co-founder of the major software
company Wolfram Research, creators of the world's leading technical software
system, Mathematica®. He lives in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do at Home - But
Probably Shouldn't

Autographed copy
from the official website
| Amazon

Links: Official website (Graysci.com)
| Gray Matter column |
Theo Gray's personal website

This article excerpts Theo Gray's Mad Science book with permission.
All images and text are copyright © by Theodore Gray.



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