Fun and easy science experiments for kids and adults.
Spinning spiral snake
Earth science
Hang your paper spiral above a heat soruce and it will spin! This experiment shows that warm air rises, which more or less is the cause of all weather.
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Video
Materials
- 1 paper
- 1 pencil
- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 candle (or any other heat source)
- Tape
- Sewing thread
Warning!
Fire may be present in this demonstration. If so, a fire extinguisher must be close at hand.Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Explanation
The air is heated by the candle and rises. The rising air flow causes the spiral to rotate. On Earth, the air near Earth's surface heats up. This is because Earth's surface is in turn heated by the Sun. When a substance is hot, the particles move a lot and collide with each other all the time, which means that they are on average further apart. In hot air, the air particles (nitrogen molecules, oxygen molecules and more) are thus further apart than in cold air, which means that hot air has a lower density than cold air. This causes it to rise because Earth's gravitational force then has a weaker effect on it. The rising hot air pushes on the underside of the spiral and this causes the spiral, due to the its shape, to rotate.Experiment
You can turn this demonstration into an experiment. This will make it a better science project. To do that, try answering one of the following questions. The answer to the question will be your hypothesis. Then test the hypothesis by doing the experiment.- What happens if you make a wider spiral?
- What happens if you make a taller spiral?
- What happens if you make the spiral from some other material?
- How can you make a spiral rotate as fast as possible?
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© The Experiment Archive. Fun and easy science experiments for kids and adults. In biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, astronomy, technology, fire, air and water. To do in preschool, school, after school and at home. Also science fair projects and a teacher's guide.
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© The Experiment Archive. Fun and easy science experiments for kids and adults. In biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, astronomy, technology, fire, air and water. To do in preschool, school, after school and at home. Also science fair projects and a teacher's guide.
To the top
