Introducing....David and Joan Webb!

Today we had guests speakers David and Joan Webb come to talk to us about vacuums and we did several interesting experiments. We learned about how pumps don't suck, instead, they create a low atmospheric pressure, which is the same as a vacuum. Because gas and fluids flow from high to low, we were able to do make wonderful and interesting experiments. We did one where we blew up a balloon so that it was really small, and then we put it in a container like thing, and began to use a pump to take away all the air inside the container. Soon, the balloon began expanding!! Even with the little knot on the end. It was so cool!

Another experiment was the feather and ginny experiment, where we demonstrated how a feather and a steel washer could fall at the same pace and hit the ground at the same time. It was able to do this in a vacuum because there was is no air resistance in a vacuum, therefore, allowing the feather to drop simultaneously with the washer.

The second to last experiment was really interesting, and I learned something I never knew before. We put a ringing door bell into the container and began to decrease the air pressure inside. Soon, we could no longer hear the bell chiming but we could see by a flashing light that the bell was still going. I soon learned that sound needs air to be able to be transmitted, and since we had taken away that air, we could not hear the sound. This also applies to space. Since space has no air, one cannot hear a spaceship explode; therefore in star wars, at then end where the enemy ship explodes, the film makers were wrong to add sound.

The last experiment we did was we boiled water to the point of freezing it...without fire or a match, just air pressure It was interesting because as the water was boiling, the water temperature kept decreasing, and that was because the boiling point in a vacuum or space is lower than in the regular atmosphere. At the end, we had a relatively solid piece of ice, it was amazing, I never thought you could do that! Overall, this was a wonderful experience, and it was cool being able to witness these amazing things, and actually being able to understand the full science behind it :)