Air and Air pressure Experiments
There’s air surrounding us everywhere, at a pressure of 14,7 psi. Interesting things happen when you change the pressure in pockets of air…things start to move. The differences in pressure cause winds, tornados and enable planes to fly. We are going to look at some air pressure changes in these experiments.
Important to remember when you are writing your conclusions and theories….higher air pressure pushes, low air pressure does not pull.
Experiment Method Observations Theory
Squished soda can DEMO
Heat a can in a large bowl of water with a few tablespoons of water inside. When it steams remove it carefully, with tongs, put it upside down into a bowl of ice cold water.
Mass of air DEMO
Weigh the mass of an empty beach ball on digital scale. Blow the beach ball up and weigh the inflated beach ball.
Wine bottle and marshmallows DEMO
Put a few marshmallows into a wine bottle.
Use a vacuum pump to remove some of the air from the bottle. What happens to the marshmallows?
1. Paper into bottle blow
Place a small ball of paper onto the inside of a bottle neck. Try and blow the paper into the bottle.
2. Blowing on paper Hold a small sheet of paper against your lower lip. Blow over the top of the piece of paper.
3. Blowing up balloons
Put a balloon over the rim of a bottle. Put the bottle into a bowl of hot water.
4. Making eye droppers
Suck up some water through a straw. Cover the end of the straw with your finger. Lift your finger off the straw for a second and then replace it. What happens?
