Jet Suit Flight and Talk by Richard Browning
Setting Record
Real Ironman
Convection Toy – Angels Carousel
This simple toy is made possible using convection current in the air.
The ‘fan’ of the carousel is similar to the windmill we are familiar with. Just that the kinetic energy of the wind is created by the stream of hot air rising up from the bottom. It is the opposite of an electric fan.
The Standing Broom Challenge
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Returning from Space: Re-entry – PDF format
SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test
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Metal is a good conductor – paper over metal gets burned slower
The paper over metal or over plastic/wood will get burned faster?
Everyone knows that metal is a good conductor of thermal energy. But for experiments like this, many would have guessed it wrongly.
A paper is wrapped over metal and insulator (plastic, wood etc) and is exposed to the flame, the paper over the insulator becomes charred faster and burned faster.
The paper over the metal takes a longer time to be charred and burned. This is because metal is a good conductor of thermal energy. When the spot (paper over metal) is exposed to the flame, the metal conducts the thermal energy away from that spot to other parts of the metal. So the temperature increase at that spot is slower, hence the ignition temperature of the paper (approx. 230oC) will be reached much slower, compared to the spot where the paper is over an insulator.
Water is a poor conductor
In the three states of matter, in general, solid is the best conductor as the particles are closely packed in an orderly manner, hence thermal energy can be passed down by the collision of the particles in the solid faster.
On the other hand, liquid and gas are relatively considered poor conductor. Gas is the worst conductor as the particles are far apart.
The following experiment demonstrates that water is indeed a poor conductor of thermal energy.
An ice cube is kept at the bottom of the boiling tube by the net. The water at the top of the boiling tube is heated and started to boil. But the ice is not fully melted.
This shows that thermal energy transferred through the water from heated water at the top to the ice is weak, hence indicating that water is a poor conductor.
How about thermal transfer through convection current? In this experiment, the heated water at the top expands, the volume of the heated water increases, becomes less dense and remains at the top. The cooler water, which is denser, remains at the bottom. Hence there is no convection current formed throughout the entire water in the tube. So thermal energy transfer to the ice cube through convection is not present here.
Balloon at reduced pressure
A partially inflated balloon is placed inside a sealed container as air is pumped out of the by syringe. As the pressure of the container is reduced, the volume of the balloon increases. The pressure inside the balloon decreases.
Note that the pressure inside the balloon is not equal to the pressure of the container. The number of air molecules in the balloon is fixed. As the pressure of the container decreases, this creates a pressure difference inside and outside the balloon. This causes the balloon to expand and its volume to increase. The number of air molecules per unit volume inside the balloon decreases, hence pressure inside the balloon decreases.
But as the balloon is elastic, the wall of the balloon is stretched. Hence the pressure of the balloon will be greater than the pressure of the container. Refer to the video below.
