Hello friends, and welcome to our lab! Here we study physics!
What is physics you may ask? Physics is the study of matter and how it interacts with energy and force.
At this lab, we study gravity, magnets, light, heat and energy, buoyancy, friction, simple machines, and much more.
Wow! This is great! We’re excited to see how all of this works!
By the way, meet our new robot friend, C-9. We call him Clam. When he gets scared, he closes like a clamshell.
Can you please show him some of the physics activities you do here?
Of course! You and Clam can watch me do some physics experiments! Unfortunately, our chain reaction machine is not finished yet, so I’ll show you using these small test activities.
Don’t worry, Clam. This metal sphere fell because of a force called gravity! Gravity is what pulls everything toward the ground. Without gravity, there wouldn’t be life on Earth.
Everything would fly up to space. Gravity is the reason a ball comes back down when you throw it into the air, instead of just traveling higher and higher.
Next, let’s look at magnets! A magnet is a rock or a piece of metal that can pull certain types of metal toward itself.
Magnets can’t pull things like paper, plastic, glass, or cloth, only things that are made of iron or that contain iron.
Clam got attached to a magnet. It’s because Clam is made out of metal.
And Bubble didn’t get attached because he is made out of plastic.
Here, we also study about light! Light is a form of energy made of photons. Depending on the type of matter it comes into contact with, light will behave differently.
Light can pass through transparent objects such as glass or water.
Opaque objects block light, like this wooden wall. Translucent objects allow some light to travel through them.
If light gets blocked by an opaque object, it creates a shadow.
Come on, Clam. The chain reaction machine is not working yet.
Here, we also study about heat and energy. Heat is the transfer of energy from one object to another because of a difference in temperature.
Matter can change state based on heat or temperature. For example, if water is cold and its molecules are moving very slowly, it will be in a solid state we all know as ice.
If it warms up, the ice will melt and water becomes a liquid.
If you heat water even more, it will turn into a gas called steam!
And it’s not just water. This solid piece of metal turns into a liquid state when we give it a lot of heat.
Speaking of liquids, let’s take a look at buoyancy. In physics, buoyancy is the force of an object that makes the object rise or move upward.
Why do some objects sink and some float?
Objects that float are less dense than the water they pushed aside. Being a heavy object doesn’t mean it will always sink.
Look, I have an apple and a metal nail. The apple is heavier than the nail. Let’s see which one will sink and which one will float.
The apple floats because it has a greater volume of air than the nail, even though it is heavier.
We have two more stations left!
Now let’s look at friction! Friction is the resistance of motion when one object rubs against another. Different types of surfaces create different amounts of friction.
Now let’s test it ourselves. Accelerate and try to stop really fast on this concrete surface.
Wow! The concrete surface helps me stop very quickly!
Now try on ice!
Oh-oh, slippery!
Ice has very low friction. It takes me so much longer to stop!
And the last station is simple machines! Simple machines are basic mechanical devices for applying a force and doing work.
They include the lever.
The wheel and axle. For instance, using wheels and axles, we can create a wagon that can help us move a heavy load.
Pulley.
Inclined plane.
Wedge.
And screw.
Where did Clam go? Clam? Clam? Where are you?
Oh, no! Clam is inside the chain reaction machine and he’s activated it! We have to help him!
Let’s use physics to help Clam!
[Activated]
Look! Clam and spheres are falling because of gravity!
Look, the metal balls are attracted to the magnet and the glass balls are not.
Look, we can see shadows created by the chain reaction objects!
Now Clam is going through tunnels made out of different materials.
The first tunnel is opaque and it doesn’t let light through.
The second tunnel is made out of translucent material. Some light gets absorbed and some goes through.
The third tunnel is made out of clear glass. All the light travels through the tunnel walls.
Clam sank because he is much denser than water. On the other hand, the plastic spheres are floating because of low density.
The magnet picked up Clam and is carrying him over hot water. It is so hot, it turns to steam. Be careful, Clam! Never touch hot water!
This is the final part of the chain reaction – simple machines!
You did it, Clam!
Thanks for learning with us!