If Junior’s science fair project is due tomorrow and he hasn’t even started, then this project is just what he needs to turn the emergency into an A+ project. You probably have everything you need around the house. If you can’t find a couple of odds and ends, you should be able to find them at the trusty dollar store.

The exact layout of the experiment is not critical.  You need two cans of similar shape and size, which you should be able to find in the recycling bin.  You’ll also need some wire or string–almost any type will do.  You’ll need something to hang them from.  In this example, the experimenter is using some kind of stand.  But a chair or table will work just fine–you just need the two cans to be able to hang freely.

Finally, you’ll need some water (H2O) and some sand.  If you can’t find any sand, any solid will work, such as dirt, sugar, salt, etc.  You just need something to add weight to the can.

The experiment demonstrates viscosity–the “thickness” of a fluid.  After setting up the two cans, you twist each of them an equal number of times, for example, 5 times, and then let go.  The can with sand will keep rotating a much longer time.  After unwinding 5 times, it will wind itself in the other direction almost 5 times before again reversing.  The process will continue for a long time.

The can with water will settle down much faster.  This is because the water’s low viscosity means that most of the water is not turning.  Only the light can is spinning, and it will lack the momentum to continue as long as the can full of sand.

If Junior wants to be ambitious, he can use other thick liquids.

The teacher will want the experiment to answer a question.  There are many possibilities.  For example, he can use the question, “how does viscosity affect the rotation of a spinning container.”  Or, he can pick two liquids and answer the question, “which has a higher viscosity–water or cooking oil.”  The one that spins the longest has the higher viscosity.

The project originally appeared 80 years ago this month in the June 1939 issue of Popular Science.

A hundred years ago this month, the May 1919 issue of Popular Science showed how to cut glass with a pair of scissors. Lo and behold, it is possible, as long as the glass is submerged under water.

The article noted that it is often necessary to cut an odd-shaped piece of glass, such as to replace the broken glass on an electrical instrument. According to the magazine, “ordinary window-glass may be cut to almost any desired shape by holding it beneath the surface of a pan of water and cutting with house shears.”

A straight cut was not possible, but it was possible to “chew out” the piece. Of course, my first reaction was that if this was indeed possible, then there would be YouTube videos, and indeed there were, such as this one, which inexplicably tells you not to try it at home. I encourage you to try it at home, but the recommendation to use eye protection is a good one.

According to this website, an unnamed issue of Scientific American explains the phenomenon by saying that water causes glass to crack more easily when water enters the crack. The “silicon-oxygen bond at the crack and an oxygen-hydrogen bond in the water are cleaved, creating two hydroxyl groups attached to silicon. As a result, the length of the crack grows by the size of one bond rupture. The water reaction reduces the energy necessary to break the silicon-oxygen bonds, thus the crack grows faster.”

How well does it work? That question would be suitable for some young scientist to explore as part of a winning science fair project.

If Junior’s science fair project is due tomorrow, there’s still time to whip together a meaningful project, and this one from the May 1939 issue of Popular Science should fill the bill. You probably have all of the necessary parts at home. If you don’t, you should be able to find them at the trusty dollar store.

This experiment answers the question, “does a flame conduct electricity?” It turns out that it does, and this experiment proves it. All Junior needs (in addition to the obligatory poster board and magic markers) is a battery (a 9-volt battery should work fine), a pair of headphones (a cheap pair of stereo earbuds will do the trick), a few short pieces of wire, and a candle.  And, of course, don’t forget to give Junior some matches or a lighter!

One terminal of the battery is hooked to the headphones. The other terminal of the battery and the other terminal of the headphones are each hooked to a piece of wire. Remove the insulation for the other end of those two wires. When Junior sticks the two wires into the flame of the candle, a clicking will be heard in the headphones, confirming that electrical current is flowing.

If Junior has more time to prepare his entry, he might want to consider more complex versions, such as the flame audion or the flame speaker.

If you don’t trust Junior with matches, then the same magazine also shows the experiment shown here.  Junior will need a piece of glass, an iron, a lamp (with an old-fashioned incandescent light bulb) and a thermometer.  The glass will effectively block the heat from the iron.  The radiant heat from the lamp, however, has a shorter wavelength and will pass through the glass.  So when the iron is used, the thermometer won’t budge.  But with the lamp, the temperature will rise quickly.

For the student looking to put together a classic science fair project from the past, this hygrometer from the April 1944 issue of Popular Science should fit the bill.  A hygrometer is simply a device to measure humidity, and this one uses a single human hair as the sensor, just like the first one constructed by Horace Bénédict de Saussur in 1783.

Construction will require a bit of trial and error, but is quite simple.  First, a strand of hair about four inches long is washed “in cleaning fluid.” Another set of plans available on the internet recommend the use of dilluted rubbing alcohol, which should probably work as the cleaning fluid. The idea is to remove the oil from the hair to make it more sensitive to changes in humidity.

One end of the hair is attached to a fixed point, and the other end is wound around a large-eyed sewing needle. The 1944 article recommends attaching it to the needle with sealing wax.  However, you should be able to use other fancy stuff, such as hot glue or possibly just regular glue.

The needle is held in place by bearings consisting of shirt buttons. Finally, a pointer is attached to the needle. As the humidity changes, the hair expands and contracts, which causes the needle to rotate. The amount of rotation is visible on the pointer.

Many of our science fair ideas are geared toward the student prone to procrastination. If you look through our site, you’ll find many projects that look spectacular but can be whipped up in a single evening. This one doesn’t come under that category, since it requires several days of being set aside. But still, it establishes some meaningful science and has the added advantage of including something bursting into flame.

To show that plants put out oxygen, the experiment collects some of the gas emitted by a plant. After enough has been collected, the student can establish that it’s pure oxygen by placing a small smoldering piece of wood or paper into it, where it will burst into flame.

This idea appeared in Popular Science 80 years ago this month, March 1939.

Students looking for an interesting science fair project to illustrate a concept that the science teacher has probably never heard of can’t go wrong with this simple experiment demonstrating the principle of magnetostriction.  This property causes certain materials to change shape and dimensions during the process of magnetization. The effect was first noted by James Prescott Joule in 1842.

The effect is quite small, but the ingenious experiment shown here will detect the change in length of the iron rod. One end is placed on a roller, which might be as simple as a wooden dowel. The dowel has a rather long pointer affixed to detect the small changes in length.

The magnetic field is induced by winding insulated wire around the rod.  It’s powered by two old-school dry cell batteries, but two modern alkaline D cells will work just as well or better.  The construction of the experiment will be neater if you use a battery holder.

Chances are, the science teacher has never heard of magnetostriction, and he or she will be quite impressed that you were able to induce a measurable change of length in the seemingly solid iron rod.

The project appeared in Popular Science 80 years ago this month, February 1939.

This classic science fair project appeared 75 years ago today, in all places, in the December 17 1943 issue of Life magazine.

The magazine carried an article extolling the virtues of the nation’s then 200 million electric motors. It concluded with these plans for making one at home with only a wooden block, 5 paper clips, 13 thumbtacks, and a spool of enameled wire.

The old fashioned dry cell battery is a nice touch, but an alkaline D cell will work just as well.  For those who wish to bypass the parts procurement process, here is an available kit: