Middle School (ages 11-13) & General Public

Racing Cylinders

Learn about moment of intertia and rotaional mechanics through racing food cans down an inclinded plane.

Rodent Reactor

Use mousetraps and ping pong balls to understand how nuclear reactors work.

Straw Landing

This demo will show what happens to the surface of a moon or planet when a rockets lands. 

Longitudinal and Transverse Waves

This demonstration uses a slinky and tuning fork to explain two types of waveforms in our world: transverse and longitudinal. A discussion on sound waves is included and leads to categorizing sound waves as longitudinal waves.

Passive Pasta

Learn about "passive" cooking through this energy efficient workshop! Participants will make pasta noodles by using hot water and an insulated travel mug, and eat a delicious meal. Water molecules, energy, heat, isolated systems - these are only a few physical concepts introduced in this engaging demonstration!

Cakeraters

Falling space rocks collide with the surface of planets and moons to create impact craters which can be found all over our solar system

Gravitational Waves in Jello

Movement of massive objects in space create gravitational waves that travel outward in spacetime and bend light along the way. We detect these waves by using lasers and watching changes in how light moves through space. This demo uses clear jello and a laser to show how collisions create ripples that radiate outward from the source, which are able to bend light.

Pages