WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Children under 8 years can choke or suffocate on. Ages 8 and up

Transcription

1 Item #3720 Adult Supervision Required Ages 8 and up This product contains small magnets. Swallowed magnets can stick together across intestines causing serious infections and death. Seek immediate medical attention if magnet(s) are swallowed or inhaled. WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD-Children under 8 years can choke or suffocate on uninflated or broken balloons. Adult supervision required. Keep uninflated balloons from children. Discard broken balloons at once. 1

2 What s In It For You? Be warned! Using this kit could put you in the company of people like Ben Franklin, James Alessandro Volta, Thomas Edison, Gregory Ohm, Nikola Tesla, and Robert van de Graaff. Then there are the people behind LEDs, disk or button batteries, and neodymium magnets who started out as innocently curious as you are now. Like them, you re headed for amazing discoveries using moving electrons, circuits, conductors, switches, and insulators. You re about to enter the shocking and electric world of Wired Science! What You Have oz (6ml) Giant test tubes (Baby Soda Bottles) w/ lids 2 Disk or button batteries (CR2032)* 2 Energy Stick Probes 2 LEDs (green and blue) 2 Super strong magnets (.33 /8mm) Balloon (8 /20cm) Energy Stick Giant test tube rack Static Tube TM Set of instructions What You ll Need... Small amount of salt or baking soda (1tsp or about 2g) Small samples of liquids to test, e.g. water, milk, vinegar, honey, tea, soda, etc. (about 2oz/60mL each) Access to some distilled water Small square of aluminum foil Paper towels Clean, dry hair comb or hair brush (along with clean, dry hair) Small spray bottle with water in it Large wall or bathroom mirror Black electrician s tape, masking tape, or even plain sticky tape (your choice) Metric vs. English: A Note About Measurements It s understood that standard English measurements are what most people use everyday in the United States even though the metric system is what scientists (and the rest of the world) use. In this kit, an English measurement is given with a metric equivalent. To avoid confusion with decimals and fractions, the conversions use the closest whole number. In simple activities like these, -ish is going to be OK. *DO NOT mix old and new batteries. DO NOT mix alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc) or rechargeable (Ni-CaD, Ni-Mh, etc) batteries. 2

3 A Not-So-Large Charge Current Information For you, the most interesting or curious part of this kit may be the Energy Stick. It certainly looks very bizarre. The Energy Stick is ready to go, so let the discoveries begin! 1. Remove the Energy Stick from the kit and look at it carefully. Predict what it can do and how it could be a useful lab tool. There are lights, wires, electronics, and batteries inside the tube, as well as holes in one end. There are two curious silver rings at each end, too. What do the wires inside connect? 2. Using both hands, grip the Energy Stick with a hand on each silver ring. You see flashing lights and hear an unmistakable noise like a weird siren or a sick zombie. It changes pitch if you hold on long enough, too! 3. Let go with one hand and... hey, it shuts off! Grab the silver ring again and the Energy Stick goes off again. Ideas? How Does It Work? The Energy Stick is nothing more than a battery-powered circuit tester with more colorful bells and whistles than most. It s so sensitive that it can detect an incredibly small amount of electricity traveling across moisture on your skin from one silver ring to the other! It s a completely safe, but totally cool, way to test circuits, learn about electrical conductors, and identify insulators that block electricity. Electricity is nothing more than free electrons moving from atom to atom through a material. This flow is called a current. Currents go in one direction at a time, and can be given a very strong charge or a very weak charge. Something that allows a current to move through it freely is called a conductor. Good conductors include most metals such as copper, aluminum, iron, silver, gold, and lead, but there are others like water, mercury, and neon. If a material slows or even stops the current altogether, it offers resistance to the current and is called an insulator. Materials like glass, rubber, plastic, paper, cloth, and wood are very good insulators. However, if the charge is high enough, an insulator won t stop the current. Do not worry about this with an Energy Stick in your hands. Since your body is mostly water and there are water and minerals on your skin, your body can be a conductor, although a poor one. The weak current travels from one silver ring onto one hand and then across the surface of your skin to the other hand and onto the other silver ring. This complete loop is called a closed circuit and allows the Energy Stick to do its detection thing. Take a hand off a silver ring and you break or open the circuit and the current stops flowing to the Energy Stick. If the charge is big enough, the current can jump this gap and a bright, blue arc is the result. (but it won t happen with an Energy Stick). Grab the silver ring once more and you make a complete circuit. That s just what a switch on a wall does or a circuit breaker (or fuse) does in the breaker box on a house. It stops the current. Wow! Look at all you ve discovered using a simple Energy Stick. So, if an Energy Stick is a circuit tester, what circuits can be tested? Take It Further! - A Giant Circuit Have a large group of friends form a circle and hold hands as you explain how a circle compares to a circuit. Open the circuit by letting go of the hand of a person next to you; everyone else hangs on. Grab a silver ring on one end of the Energy Stick while the person next to you grabs the other one. The Energy Stick flashes and buzzes because the circuit is complete again! Should anyone break the circuit, the detector stops. Explain that switches and breakers are nothing more than devices that either connect conductors to turn something on or separate them to turn something off. By the way, how many people were in your circle? Why not try 10 or 20 or even 50?! Take It Further! - Using the Probes The Energy Stick has two attachments that simply slide snugly onto each end. They re the Energy Stick Probes and they make contact with the silver rings so you can use the wire probes for circuit and conductor tests. Be careful as you slide them on so that good contact is made with the silver rings. No contact means no tests. The bare ends of the probes are now what you use to test a circuit. Grab one in each hand at the same time and the Energy Stick should go off. If it doesn t, double check the connection of each probe. Got lights and sound? Now you re ready! NOTE: Touching the probes together may produce a very weak reaction and could, in fact, shorten the life of the Energy Stick. So, touching the probes together is probably not a good idea. 3

4 Test different liquids by holding the probes about 2 (5cm) apart and placing them into the same dish at the same time. You know now that if the Energy Stick goes off, then there s a circuit and the liquid is a conductor. What happens if you test a paper towel, a cereal bowl, a pan, a glass dish, a wooden spoon, a shirt sleeve, or a plastic fork? You should be seeing and hearing the differences between conductors and insulators. If a liquid tests poorly or not at all, what might you do to make it more of a conductor? Try it! Stick one probe into one liquid and the other probe into a different liquid. There are no results on the Energy Stick. Duh! Now, tear off a piece of the aluminum foil and roll or fold it into a U-shape that will bridge the dishes and extend down into both liquids. Now test it by placing the probes into the separate dishes again. What did you do differently to get the reaction? What could you to do to get a better reaction? Grab the two Baby Soda Bottles, remove both lids, and place the tubes into the test tube rack. Fill each with 2oz/60mL of distilled water and test each tube separately. It s important that you use distilled water for this test, because there are no additives that could skew, or alter, your test. The probes will be close together, so be extra careful. See if you can improve the result by pouring a teaspoon (2g) of salt or baking soda into one of the Baby Soda Bottles and test each tube again. What happened? Any changes or differences? Now you have one Baby Soda Bottle with salt water in it and one with plain water in it. Use the aluminum foil bridge between them as before and do another test. What might you do to improve the reaction with this setup? How can you use this setup to test other conductors? If you re feeling brave, touch the probes to opposite sides of your tongue and well, you can probably guess the outcome but do it anyway so you can be impressed with your own conductivity. If your tongue is sensitive, you might feel a tiny tingle from one of the probes but probably not. What you ll do for science! Anything But Static Tubular Electricity The word static means stationary, little or no change, or not moving. For example, a static display doesn t move. So, static electricity is a charge that s not moving; it s built up in one place, as on a surface of a balloon. More about that later. Right now, you ll see lots of movement but it s not electrons. They re invisibly piling up on top of each other! 1. Pull the Static Tube TM out of the kit. It s a simple toy... uh, that is, scientific device...that you can use to study static electricity. NOTE: The lid does come off but that s definitely not a good idea because cleaning up the tiny, white foam beads is a real nightmare. 2. Hopefully the lid is taped on because if it comes off, this won t be any fun at all. Odds are there are beads scattered up and down the tube clinging to the inside of the plastic. Shake and tap the tube hard any way you want and try to move all the beads into the labeled end of the tube. Good luck! 3. Set the tube upside down on a table and bring a finger close to, but not touching, the tube. How do the beads react to your finger without even touching them? You could call them scaredy cats because they move quickly away from your finger, but c mon, they re only little white beads! 4. With a paper towel in your writing hand, grab the clear end of the Static Tube TM and hold the label end in your other hand. Squeeze the paper towel firmly against the Static Tube TM but don t crush the tube. Twist the towel back and forth so it rubs hard against the clear end of the tube. Stop when you feel heat from the friction. Remove the towel and with the other hand, tip the Static Tube TM right side up so the beads spill into the clear end. Turn it upside down again and observe where the beads are stuck to the inside of the tube. 5. Bring a finger of your writing hand close to but not touching the sides of the tube and watch the beads this time. With random snaps and crackles they flee even faster from you! Tip the tube once more to spill beads into it again. Tip it back up so the label is on the bottom. There will be lots of beads on the bottom of the Static Tube TM. 6. Are you ready for this? Touch a finger to the clear bottom of the tube. The beads don t flee; they move closer to where your finger touches the plastic! See if you can move a group of these beads from the bottom of the tube to the side and then slowly slide the group into beads clinging to the side of the tube. The group follows your finger but the other beads leap out of the way and make room. Slide the group to the other end of the tube and pull your finger away. The group of beads falls into the label end. Go back and grab some more! 4

5 How Does It Work? Static electricity is governed by charges: positive (+) and negative (-). Similar charges (+ and +) or (- and -) repel or push away from each other. Opposite charges (+ and -) attract or pull towards each other. The scaredy cat beads clearly had the same charge as your finger and were repelled by it. The beads in the group had the opposite charge as your finger and were attracted by it. That s why other beads move out of their way: they have the same charge. Also, the beads clinging to the plastic had the opposite charge from the plastic. That s why they stuck to it. Take It Further! Water steals the charge! Hold the Static Tube TM label end down and use the spray bottle to mist the clear end. Lightly tap the Static Tube TM as you spray and watch the beads fall into the label end. One or two stubborn beads may require a firmer tap but you can get all of them out of the clear end. A paper towel dries the water but don t rub the plastic too hard. The charge is almost completely gone from the plastic and the beads wait for you to start all over again. Tip the Static Tube TM so the beads roll into the clear end, tip it back, and tap the last couple of stragglers back into the pile. It works. With a charged Static Tube TM, use a paper towel to rub the bottom piece only and then tip the beads into it. Tip it back and a large number of beads cling to the bottom piece. Touch it with your finger and they almost all drop off! What can you say about the charges you created by rubbing only the bottom of the tube compared to the sides? When you do this activity, make sure your hair has been washed and is completely dry. It helps if there s low humidity (air moisture), too. Blow up the balloon and tie it off. In front of a mirror, rub it briskly and firmly in your clean, dry hair several times. The charge piles up on the side of the balloon near your hair. Move it away from your head and look for a hair raising result! Sometimes you can press the charged balloon onto the wall and the attractive charge holds it in place. From what you know about static charges, you can likely explain what s happening. Try a clean, dry comb instead of a balloon and see if you can generate a charge. If you hear popping and snaps, you did it! Bring your charged devices near the Static Tube TM and watch the beads go crazy. Yep, you can probably explain that reaction, too. Over time, a static charge dissipates (goes away). This occurs even faster in the presence of moisture so dry is better than wet if you re studying static electricity. The Light Fantastic A Throwie Now, it s your turn to make something that is totally cool and something you probably haven t seen or done before. Go to this YouTube video and find out how easy it is: There are other ideas on the video for using Throwies with your friends, too. 1. From the kit, grab the two batteries, the two LEDs, and the two super strong magnets. NOTE: These small pieces are choking hazards! Keep pets and small children safe by having the pieces in a safe place until you ve used them in your work. Just be careful! 2. Slip the leads of the LED over the battery and it will light up. If not, just flip the LED over and slip it on again. It s polarity sensitive which means there s only one way it will work with this battery. 3. Your super strong magnets really are super strong, but they re also smaller than those in the video. They ll slip off of the LED leads easily. You might want to wrap one layer of tape around both leads first and then put the magnet on the battery. When you add a second layer of tape tightly over it all, everything stays nicely in place. That s it: you now own a magnetically sticky Throwie! Make the second one, if you please, and then toss them onto a handy metal surface like the nearest refrigerator. Art and science: it s a great combo! How Does It Work? An LED (light emitting diode) is an ingenious invention that s used when bright, low power and low heat lights are needed. In a diode, electrons rise to and fall from precise energy levels. When an electron falls to a lower energy level, light energy is emitted. It s the size of the fall (the gap) that decides the frequency of the light (i.e. the color of the visible light). What you see, then, is green and blue light, not white light through green or blue plastic. LEDs are found in all kinds of devices from numbers on a digital clock, to kitchen appliances, to traffic lights, and even jumbo-tron screens. The battery in this kit will power the LED non-stop for over two months. Then, go buy a new battery. 5

6 The super strong magnets are made from neodymium, iron, boron and a few transition metals. They re some of the strongest magnets in the world. Neodymium magnets are so strong that they may be dangerous if not handled properly. A domino-sized pair can slam together from over 6in/15cm apart and knock chips off themselves and smash fingers from the force of the impact. Be careful! Any type of magnetic media (DVD, computer, cell phone, etc.) will be history in the presence of one large neodymium magnet. By the way, it s far easier to slide neodymium magnets apart than it is to pull them part. Take It Further! The video shows a multiple-led Throwie. That s fine if the battery can power both LEDs and that depends on the power needs of each LED. It ll positively work (get it? positively ) if you use one LED per battery. What other ways have you seen (or been a part of) art and science working so easily and well together? It s too bad that some people even think there has to be a division between them. Two Throwies are fun to make and interesting to play with (C mon, is it really work if it s a Throwie?), but hundreds together are spectacular! The downside is the time and money needed to make them; but if you work it right, your friends and maybe classmates will enjoy the experience, too. It is cool, after all! Safety Considerations Science should be safe as well as fun! Read all the directions for an activity before beginning it. Take your time with an activity because carelessness can lead to trouble. Never eat or drink in a lab. Always be careful with chemicals and close any containers tightly. Be a clean scientist!small pieces and the balloon in the kit are choking hazards! Keep pets and small children safe by keeping the pieces in a safe place until you ve used them in your work. Copyright 2013 Be Amazing! Toys All rights reserved Be Amazing! Toys ( ed