Gallery: You’ve Never Seen Science Experiments Look Quite Like This
Laura Skinner01Skinner-015.jpg
The LED light attached to this wooden double pendulum illustrates chaos theory: the light trail follows no predictable pattern, since each time the pendulum swings, it follows a unique path.
Laura Skinner02Skinner-013.jpg
Douse your hand in a solution of dish soap, lighter fluid and water before lighting it on fire.
Laura Skinner03Skinner-012.jpg
Batteries consist of two metals (electrodes) suspended in an acidic (electrolyte) solution. Using copper and zinc nails and the acid from lemons, Skinner converted chemical energy into electrical energy, powering an LED bulb.
Laura Skinner04Skinner-014.jpg
A cloud of smoke lingers, mimicking how invisible water vapor condenses into visible water droplets to make clouds. Skinner waited for a Kentucky summer day with near-100% humidity so that the smoke would linger longer.
Laura Skinner05Skinner-011.jpg
A bulb lit by a single laser pointer beam, demonstrating the diffusion of light.
Laura Skinner06Skinner-002.jpg
A tornado-like vortex formed by dish soap swirled in water.
Laura Skinner07Skinner-006.jpg
Mist across a sunny backyard creates a rainbow. The water from the hose acts as a transparent optical element, showing the light waves from the sun in a full color spectrum.
Laura Skinner08Skinner-007.jpg
A ball of ice made of tonic water, which contains quinine, fluorescent under UV light.
Laura Skinner09Skinner-010.jpg
A magnet moves erratically, attracted and repelled by the three magnets on the bottom edges of the pyramid, illustrating magnetic force.
Laura Skinner10Skinner-003.jpg
Matches wrapped in aluminum foil placed inside a glass and lit, momentarily trapping the smoke, then poured onto a mirrored surface.
Laura Skinner11Skinner-001.jpg
The fluorescent contents of glow sticks splattered across a bathtub to approximate glowing stars.
Laura Skinner12Skinner-008.jpg
Light refracts and disperses through prisms in a white box, showing the visible color spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet). The separate of white light into these colors, called dispersion, happens when light waves pass through a transparent optical element, like this prism.
Laura Skinner13Skinner-009.jpg
A match head, wrapped in a cylinder of aluminum foil, is launched off a bamboo skewer, sometimes traveling 10 feet. The foil acts as a small combustion chamber: when the match head burns, it builds up enough pressure to launch the rocket from the base.
Laura Skinner14Skinner-004.jpg
Blue dye in glasses of fresh water (left) and salt water (right), placed on a mirror outside, reflecting the sky. Since the salt water has a higher density, the dye floats on top, rather than dispersing throughout the glass.
