Wednesday, April 7, 2010

WhyMommy's "Kick Cancer's Ass" Science Fair!


WhyMommy is having surgery today, due to a recurrence of her cancer. This science (ahem) is for her. :)
Has anyone asked you to so a science experiment lately? Not me! There were so many I wanted to do but they all involved food coloring which of course, I don't have! So I got out my USB microscope and started looking at the hair on my legs. Uh no. Not a good reveal, that one. I finally decided to show how capillary action works. Enjoy!





The explanation. Or something.
Your paper towel rope (or wick) starts getting wet, after a few minutes you will notice that the empty glass is starting to fill with water, it keeps filling until there is an even amount of water in each glass, how does this happen?


This process is called 'capillary action', the water uses this process to move along the tiny gaps in the fibre of the paper towels. It occurs due to the adhesive force between the water and the paper towel being stronger than the cohesive forces inside the water itself. This process can also be seen in plants where moisture travels from the roots to the rest of the plant.

*

8 comments:

  1. That was very funny!
    I loved how you went from the experiment to random shots. I especially like the one about the potholders.
    Truly, this made me laugh out loud first thing this morning!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did not know that cat's could actually roll their eyes up...but yours did, and I love what they added to the presentation. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You made science totally funny! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oooh, I can't believe you didn't show the USB microscope shots. I love those. :)

    I love this experiment. Do you want to know why? Oddly enough, capillary action has been a punchline to a running joke of mine since maybe 1994. It started in a tent on a rainy night. Thank you for the explanation!

    Thanks so much for taking part in the science fair!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely delightful. Love how the cats took starring roles!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your sense of humor! Great video. Capillary action always seems to go faster when you don't want it to.

    ReplyDelete