Melting Gallium

The students complained about the Heat. I agreed and said it was hot enough outside to melt metal. No they said, but we took the Gallium outside and sure enough it turned to liquid.

Distillation

 Separating and collecting a liquid from two or more liquids. After the students had fermented some orange juice we collected some nice smelling alcohol which burnt really well. Surprised a few students that it did burn.

Damped Harmonic Motion

Using the @Pascoscientific smartcart and Capstone to record the damped harmonic motion as the cart moves up and down the track. Adding to the mass of the cart can achieve almost complete damping
 

Ready for Microbiology

Getting ready to do some microbiology experiments. Agar plates prepared and bacteria happily growing in the broth. Now to find ways to kill them with plants from the garden.

Specific Heat Capacity with and without a Joulemeter

 

Specific Heat capacity can be determined using a Joulemeter or an Ammeter, Voltmeter and timer, but which is best for helping the students learn especially when some questions use volts amps and time.

Pocket lab G-force has Arrived

 The Pocketlab G-force car has arrived from across the Pond, so now we can start to make some videos using it. I was quite excited when I saw this on Kickstarter and order straight away. Now to charge it and use it.

Making a glass spreader

 A job for a quiet Sunday. Making glass spreaders for bacterial colonies, ready to do some experiments about natural antiseptics found in common plants on the growth of bacteria. We will also look at the effectiveness of kitchen surface cleaners.