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Showing posts from June, 2016

Build a film Canister rocket

You will need! - One empty 35mm plastic film canister and lid. These are getting harder to find, but stores that develop film should have some. (The white canisters work much better than the black ones do.) - One fizzing antacid tablet (such as Alka-Seltzer – Get this from your parents) - Water - Safety goggles What to do? Put on those safety goggles and head outside – no really, when this works, that film canister really flies! If you want to try the indoor version, do not turn the canister upside down in step 5.  Break the antacid tablet in half. Remove the lid from the film canister and put a teaspoon (5 ml) of water into the canister. Do the next 2 steps quickly Drop the tablet half into the canister and snap the cap onto the canister (make sure that it snaps on tightly.) Quickly put the canister on the ground CAP SIDE DOWN and STEP BACK at least 2 meters. About 10 seconds later, you will hear a POP! and the film canister will launch into the air!

Why Are Planets Round?

Our Solar System. Big, small but round. But, why all the planets and stars are round?  The eight planets in our solar system differ in many ways. They are of different sizes. They are different distances from the sun. Some are small and rocky, and others are large and gaseous. But all are nice and round. Why is that? Why don't they have cubes, pyramids or discs? Planets are round because of a process known as "spherical shape formation". This process is caused by the forces of gravity and centrifugal force. Gravity is the force that pulls all objects towards the center of mass. The stronger the gravity, the more compact an object will be. As a planet forms, the gravity of all the matter within it causes it to pull together and become denser. This results in the planet becoming more and more spherical in shape. Additionally, as a planet spins on its axis, the centrifugal force caused by this rotation also contributes to the spherical shape.