Friday, May 15, 2009

ta-da! fog!


The boys have really been into Crash! Bang! Splat! lately - a kids science show that we often Tivo. They love all of the kid performed experiments, and we do a bunch of them each week (perfect for rainy days). We are always on the look out for books, magazines, or websites that have new experiments to try as well. This week, G found one to make fog!

supplies::
black paper & tape
quart or 1/2 gallon canning jar (or other clear glass container)
hot water
match
big bag of ice


1. Tape the black paper on the outside back of the jar, so that there is a dark background to help contrast the fog...G insisted that we wrap the paper ALL THE WAY around the jar, which was perfectly fine too!

2. Fill the jar with hot tap water - let sit 60 seconds.

3. Pour out all but an inch or so of the water.


Quickly -
3. Light the match (grown up!) and hold it over the jar opening.

4. After a few seconds, drop the match into the jar and cover the top of the jar immediately with the bag of ice.


5. Watch!!


G liked how long the fog lasted with this experiment!

the 'how':
The warm water heats the air in the jar - some of the water evaporates too, creating water vapor. The hot air with water vapor rises, and cools off as it comes into contact with the air cooled by the ice. When the water molecules cool down, they slow down and stick together. The smoke from the match just helps bunch the water molecules together more easily...making...fog!

13 comments:

TheOrganicSister said...

Very cool! I always wondered about fog myself. :)

~Tara

Stephanie said...

Ooooh, can't wait to try this one.
We're gonna do the other one from Home Science Tools (the latest newsletter), so this will go along nicely!
Thanks!

tiff said...

AWESOME! I love the expressions of excitement!

Sara said...

This is awesome. Very interesting.

Lynnie said...

Wow! Once again, you've provided a really cool idea for an experiment! We watch the fog over our garden every morning now, I wonder if my girls would like to make their own fog over our tabletop garden to match it. Recently they were really amazed by the steam coming out of their teacups, yelling and shrieking as if the two pillars of steam were in a race!

Joy said...

Cool! We'll have to try that one.

Mama Randa Morning Glory said...

Sounds like a cool show! We used to love ZOOM, which aired on PBS since my mom was a little girl. Sadly, they ended production a couple years ago : (

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

That is so cool! I totally want to try this myself, I'll be linking.

Dawn said...

Love that last shot of him, so cute!

Have a wonderful weekend~
:)

Annie said...

Too cool! Thanks for this. Can't wait to try!

Tristi Pinkston said...

I'm going to have to try this one at our unschool!

Lisa said...

This is too cool! Can't wait to try it!

Kathryn said...

This would be great hands-on way to include in a lesson on the weather and explain the how and why of fog.