Exploding Disk Cannons, Slimemobiles, and 32 Other Projects for Saturday Science

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JHU Press, 2006 - 295 pages
These curious and offbeat science experiments provide Saturday scientists of all ages with new ways to mess up the basement and gross out mom - all in the name of education! Accomplished physicist and science writer Neil A. Downie presents a wide variety of creative and innovative projects, from whacky motors to designer demolition; from the skidmobile to the human-body posture meter; from the rice-grain ski jump to laser light shows. Each experiment comes with historical background, a list of equipment, detailed instructions, and a full explanation of the science behind it. For those intrigued by any particular experiment, Downie includes follow-up suggestions, which describe ways to tinker with the initial recipe. Whether printing with invisible ink or marveling at the power of an exploding soda bottle, high school science teachers, inveterate tinkerers, and amateur scientists will find in this book a full range of projects guaranteed to banish the boredom of a long Saturday afternoon.

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Contents

Exploding Disk Cannon
1
DESIGNER DEMOLITION
15
Slowly Exploding Bolts
26
Boost your next moon rocket
35
Rope Ratchet Motor
47
PUSHING STRING
61
Power Strings
75
PECULIAR VEHICULARS
85
GRANULES AND PARTICULES
141
Niagara Meter
149
A Balance of Air Blasts
164
Hovering Images
171
Moiré Microscope
177
LASER LIGHT SHOWS
185
Instant Parabola Spots
192
Messages in Wriggling Lines
200

Slimemobile
101
Ball River Bobsled
107
Skidmobile
113
CURIOUS CONTROLS
119
Electrolytic Gas Pedal
126
A Victorian Amplifier
133
Helidoodle
207
Calculator Communicator
214
INSTRUMENTS
221
No Smoke without Gas
228
Spongy Gas
236
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Page v - Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell Rode the six hundred. Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd. Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre-stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd.

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