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Video demonstration

Nail Bottle Demonstration in Slow Motion

Tom Kuntzleman | Fri, 02/21/2014 - 11:27

The nail bottle demonstration is one that many of us have conducted in our classes. To perform this demonstration, 2 – 3 mL of ethanol is placed into a plastic bottle that has two nails punctured into opposite sides of the bottle. After stoppering the bottle, a Tesla coil is touched to one of the nails. A spark jumps from one nail to the other, which initiates the combustion of vaporized ethanol inside the bottle. We recently filmed this reaction with our high speed video camera.

Whoosh Bottle, take 1

Tom Kuntzleman | Thu, 02/13/2014 - 09:17

My students and I intend to use a high-speed camera to film a variety of chemistry experiments in slow motion.  The first reaction we have decided to film is the “Whoosh Bottle”.  You can read more about this particular experiment in an article in Journal of Chemical Education here.  NOTE:  O

Sparking Marshmallows

Tom Kuntzleman | Tue, 02/26/2013 - 15:31

Have you ever cooked a marshmallow in a microwave? In case you are not familiar with this experiment, when a marshmallow is heated in a microwave, gases trapped in the marshmallow expand and escape. When the gas molecules escape from the marshmallow, they push against the marshmallow, causing it to expand. Check out the video.