Deprecated function: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is deprecated in include_once() (line 20 of /home/raw3y9x1y6am/public_html/includes/file.phar.inc).
Open any book or web page that talks about magnets, and you will probably see a drawing that shows magnetic lines of force that extend from one end of the magnet to the other.
Are there really lines of magnetic force as they show in the drawings? Well, lets find out.
This experiment comes from a suggestion made by B. Eschner. It started with his observations as he washed a plastic bag. It developed into a demonstration of water pressure, which then turned into a wonderful explanation of why things float. The more I played with it; the more I liked it. I hope you will have as much fun (and learn as much) as I did.
How do you feel? No, I don't mean are you happy or sad? Touch the back of your hand. Did you feel it? How? When you touched your hand, you pressed on nerves in your skin. These nerves reacted and sent a message to your brain, telling you that something touched your hand. Some parts of your skin have more nerves than others. We are going to examine how these nerves are arranged, and see how that can affect the message that your brain gets.
This is another of those fun bits of science that many of us think we understand until we really start to look at it, or even better, try to explain it to someone else. Then we reach a point where it becomes obvious to ourselves, and to our audience, that we don't understand it as well as we thought we did.
This experiment is a classic. If I had to pick the one science experiment that I have seen in the most science books, this now would be it. But it is also a very misunderstood demonstration. You will find that even many books of science experiments get the explanation for this one wrong.
This experiment is a result of quite a few e-mails that I have received over the years that I have been writing the Experiment of the Week. I hope that it will show some of the communication problems that can occur when scientists and "normal people" talk to each other.
I wanted to do an experiment about demagnetizing magnets, and the simplest way was to begin by magnetizing some paperclips. Once we do that, then we will explore ways to get rid of the magnetism.
This experiment is one that has been "cooking" in my mind for a while now. Today I had carpets on my mind, since I was cleaning them with our new carpet cleaner. We live at the beach, and our carpets tend to get dirty and sandy, so we place small rugs along the pathway that gets the most use. One problem is that the rugs don't stay there. They slowly migrate across the room. How can this happen? Is the cat doing it to drive us crazy? (She would if she thought it would work!) No, the cat is not involved. The movement is due to the interaction between the carpet and the rugs.
