Questions tagged [home-experiment]

questions concerning measurements, experiments, and activities that demonstrate physics and are safe to do at home, require at most one tool or ingredient not readily available, and can be interpreted or analyzed on one sheet of paper with accessible math.

Notes on Safety

  • Some of our audience might be children, so make it clear what projects may call for adult supervision.
  • It is best to list even the obvious dangers and point the reader towards ways to avoid or mitigate them.
732 questions
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Homemade particle accelerator

Watching a documentary, I heard Michio Kaku telling that when he was young, he built a home-made particle accelerator. What I would like to know is if I, myself can do so? And how?
George Smyridis
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wobbling coin observation

I happened to notice this while fidgeting with a coin. It is a common trick to hold up a coin between the index finger and the thumb, place it on the table and give it a good spin. The coin spins about its diametrical axis, while its center of mass…
Lelouch
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How to design a simple experiment about force and motion for young kid?

I am planning to demonstrate experimental validation F = m*a - but to a 4th stand. student. By now he understands velocity and acceleration well enough. I want to design this experiment using household stuff or regular transport related stuff or…
Dipan Mehta
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Why didn't the pen bounce up when dropped for the second time?

Actually see this video first. I'll try to explain what happened in the video : When the pen is dropped in such a way that there is no gap inside the cap (or in between the tip of the cap and the bottom of the pen) then the pen bounces up when…
Ankit
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Why does spinning a cylinder result in a spherical image?

I was spinning a cylindrical bottle of superglue, and a sphere formed in the middle until the bottle stopped again. Why is this?
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Phenomenon of talking apple

Recently I noticed something weird when took a metal bowl with a few apples out of the fridge and left them to get warm. After a while I heard a distinct sound in the form of sharp clicks approx. every 10-15 seconds within the half an hour or more.…
2
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What mechanism explains the effect of a hot surface on hydrogel balls?

Adding little hydrogel balls to a hot surface has an interesting effect as seen in this video. Hydrogels (as the name suggests) contain a lot of water but rather than melt or burst, the little balls are seen to bounce up-and-down on the hot surface…
nluigi
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Momentum (apparently) not conserved in one of my class' experiments

I am a TA for an introductory mechanics course. We performed an experiment yesterday examining two-dimensional collisions. One of the things we hoped to show in the course of this experiment is that in such collisions, momentum is conserved. Oddly,…
Dargscisyhp
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Geissler tube with hydrogen gas is not emitting light

I have a Geissler tube that is connected to a Variac(AC power) and I am not getting any light. The gas that I am using is hydrogen gas. My Variac works as I checked it with a multimeter. The alligator clips are connected to the (copper or aluminum?)…
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Any alternatives to the Stern-Gerlach experiment I could do at home (or school)?

I am running a bridging class for alevel students who want to go into physics at university and I think it would be really nice to show the Stern-Gerlach experiment, showing both the quantisation of spin and the change of results when we measure the…
Toby Peterken
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Time taken by a Magnifying Glass to heat Metal

I would like to know how long would it take for a small or medium sized mag. glass to heat a black painted metal particularly aluminum since I can't do the maths.
NOIZ101
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Heat exchanging Questions

I hope I am able to ask this in the way I am thinking about it. Is there a point, or at what point does water become ineffective for heat exchange. The reason I am asking, (My real world experiences. When using our distillation unit, before We…
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Does a flame put off a windlike force

When I hold a flame above a flame the one on top flickers and waves as if its about to go out. What is the cause of this?
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portable battery packs for decorative lights

I a set of home decorative lights that is powered by a portable 2 x D cell batteries. Can I replace the current pack with a new pack that takes AA batteries
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Rain experiment failed. Why?

I tried to make rain with a bottle and a balloon but it failed. The bottle was small, only a couple inches wide and the threaded part that I had the balloon on was less than an inch. In particular it was the size of this hydrogen peroxide…
Caters
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