Twenty amazing science experiments!

1. Jet engine in a jar

You need: Methanol (antifreeze is almost pure methanol), Glass jar with a metal screw cap, Hammer and nail (or a drill), Safety goggles, Long match.

Remove the screw-on lid from the glass jar and placing it onto a piece of junk wood, cardboard, or something else you don't mind drilling a hole into. Drill a small hole at the center of the cap. Place your jar in the freezer for a few minutes. Then place the frosty glass jar in a safe, non-flammable environment.

Pour a tiny bit of methanol into the jar, light the match away from the jar. With the match extended away from your body, bring the flame to the opening in the cap.

Credits: Home Science

2. Traveling flame

Light a candle. Have a second source of flame ready, such as another candle or a match. Blow out the candle and immediately place the other flame into the smoke. The flame will travel down the smoke and will relight your candle.

3. Soapy water and gas

Add a few squirts of liquid soap to the dish of water. Stir the water until the soap disolves but try not to create bubbles yet.

Submerge the lighter in the water and hold down the button that releases the butane. Butane-filled bubbles will slowly begin to accumulate on the surface of the water. To speed things up, you can use a butane refill canister. Using a match, carefully light the bubbles.

4. Drain cleaner and aluminium foil reaction

Sodium hydroxide or alkali is usually used to clean pipes of blockages. Pour some alkali into a bottle. Make small balls from foil and add drip into the bottle.

After a while, aluminum foil is dissolved in sodium hydroxide forming hydrogen and sodium tetrahydroxyaluminate. The reaction with foil goes very roughly and the balloon is soon inflated with hydrogen.

Remove the hot balloon filled with hydrogen and tie it up.

5. Brake fluid and pool chlorine

Brake fluid (polyethylene glycol) and granular swimming pool chlorine (calcium hypochlorite) react violently when mixed together, producing a fierce fireball.

6. Coca Cola and pool chlorine reaction

A small amount of phosphoric acid in the Coca Cola sets off a chemical reaction with the calcium hypochlorite, producing poisonous chlorine gas.

7. Fire snake

Mix baking soda and powdered sugar in bowl (recommended ratio of 1:4 teaspoons). Pour 1.5 capfuls of alcohol into the powdered mixture. Mix with a fork until the powder and alcohol become paste. Light the flattened paste on fire.

When the baking soda gets hot, it makes carbon dioxide gas. The pressure from this gas pushes the carbonate from the burning sugar out of the sand, creating the 'black snakes'.

8. Elephant toothpaste

You need: a clean 16 ounce plastic soda bottle, 1/2 cup 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid (20-volume is a 6% solution), 1 Tablespoon (one packet) of dry yeast, 3 Tablespoons of warm water, liquid dish washing soap, food coloring, small cup, safety goggles.

Add 8 drops of your favorite food coloring into the bottle. Add about one tablespoon of liquid dish soap into the bottle and swish the bottle around a bit to mix it.

In a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast together and mix for about 30 seconds. Pour the yeast water mixture into the bottle.

9. Sugar and sulfuric acid reaction

This experiment shows the dehydration of sugar (sucrose) with sulfuric acid. Put ordinary table sugar in a glass beaker and stir in some concentrated sulfuric acid .

The sulfuric acid removes water from the sugar in a highly exothermic reaction, releasing heat, steam, and sulfur oxide fumes. Aside from the sulfurous odor, the reaction smells a lot like caramel.

10. Flammable hand sanitizer

You need: hand sanitizer gel, a lighter or match. Be sure your hand sanitizer lists ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol as the active ingredient. Other chemicals may not work or they may burn too hot.

On a fire-proof surface, make a pattern using the gel. Ignite the edge of the gel. The flame will spread. If you like, you can touch the flame. Be careful! Although the hand sanitizer flame is relatively cool, it is still fire and it can burn you.

Colored Fire: You can mix colorants into the hand sanitizer gel to produce a colored flame. Boric acid or borax will produce a green flame. Potassium chloride (lite salt) will give you a purple flame.

11. Slow motion ball

You need a thick liquid, preferably honey, a heavy ball, and a sphere shaped container. Place the heavy ball in the lower half of the sphere. Fill the lower half of the container with honey a little more than half.

If you use too little or too much, it will affect the motion of the ball.

Credits: Brusspup

12. Water fire starter

You need a plastic or glass container with a curved area. The Pom bottles work great.

Fill the bottle with water. Fold two sheets of paper in half, twice. Print or scribble a black mark on one of the sheets. On a sunny day hold the bottle near the paper, focusing the light on the black area of the paper.

Once it starts to smoke and a hole begins to form, wrap the other sheet of paper around the smoking piece. Wave the papers through the air to feed oxygen to the spark. Continue this until the paper catches on fire.

13. No-leak magic bag

You need a zip bag, pencils and water. Fill the bag almost to the top. Zip it shut, and start sticking pencils through the bag.

14. Liquid Stacking

You'll need a tall glass or bottle. Dish Soap, vegetable oil, dark corn syrup, rubbing alcohol, food coloring and.

First add the dark corn syrup, then dish soap, then add food coloring to the water and pour it in with the bottle tilted, then add the vegetable oil, and finally add food coloring to the alcohol and pour it in with the bottle tilted.

15. Invisible Bottle

You need glycerin, a glass and a bottle that will fit in the glass. Fill both glass and bottle with glycerin and place the bottle in the glass. It looks like the bottle disappears.

16. Dancing Liquid

You need a powered speaker, a tone generator, corn starch, water and plastic to protect the speaker. Pour 1/2 cup of corn starch in a bowl and 1/4 cup of water. Mix. Pour the liquid into the speaker and generate a 60hz tone.

17. Magic Water Barrier

You need two of the same glasses. Hot water, cold water, food coloring and a thin piece of plastic. Pour the hot water in one glass, the cold in the other glass, add food coloring, then place the plastic on top of the hot water glass.
Turn the glass upside down, place it on top of the cold water glass, then carefully remove the plastic. Hot water is less dense than cold water, so it "floats" on top of the cold water.

18. Leidenfrost effect

You need a pan, water and a stove. Turn the heat on high for about 4 minutes then add the water. This experiment can stain your pans.

19. Reverse Illusion

Add all sorts of images or words behind a glass, then watch as it reverses when you add water in the glass.

20. Reversing Liquid

You need one big glass, one smaller glass, 3 mixing glasses, corn syrup, pipettes, food coloring, and clips.

Pour the corn syrup into the two bigger glasses. Place the smaller glass inside of the bigger glass. Attach the clips to prevent the smaller glass from moving side to side in the bigger glass. Pour a small amount of corn syrup into the three mixing glasses. Add stir and food coloring.

Fill each pipette with a different color, then add the colored corn syrup to your bigger glass. Turn the smaller glass carefully and watch the colors mix. Turn it back and watch them unmix.

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