have you ever want to see an object transform its own shape
yeah me too welcome to impossible science
hey guys jason latimer the world champion of magic coming to you with another impossible science
now today's topic can we get an object to transform its own shape and what you saw
earlier in the show well that is obviously an illusion but that doesn't mean we can't make
it happen through science in fact today i'm going to show you an experiment that you can do on your
side of the screen to make an object move on its own and change its shape and it uses these that's
right tiny tiny chopsticks no just kidding they're too thick grab a handful of toothpicks and some
water and i'll meet you at a table surface wait objects that actually move on their own sounds a
little creepy but totally cool see i'm gonna show you a little experiment that you can do at home
but before we get to that i'm gonna do a little bit of magic through the screen i have three
different shapes here i've got a triangle i've got this red pinwheel and i've got this purple square
now in a moment i'm going to ask you to pick one of these three by putting your finger
over that shape on your side of the screen so let's say you're here i'm going to ask you to
make some moves so if i said make two moves you can go one two or you go one two you can go left
or right with those moves but you're only allowed to move one move per step so you just can't jump
make sense so put your finger over your favorite shape right now just put your finger over it
now i'm going to add two shapes to the mix again you can move left or right but you can't jump
so i want you to move five times ready go one two three four five keep your finger right where it is
and i don't think you're here and i don't think you're here all right
keeping your finger right where it is i want you to move three times ready go one two three
i think you were trying to trick me on that one i don't think you're here
i need you to move your finger one time so move to the opposite shape go all right now
in the bottom of the screen has always been a prediction that's underneath this postcard
and i've made it out of toothpicks myself keep your finger on your shape i'm going to say
my prediction is the pinwheel did i get it right no that's okay today's episode is about
an object that can change its shape so think of the shape that you had your finger on last you
got it in your mind i'll just add some water watch what happens concentrate on your shape
it's alive
look at it go i'm guessing you selected the star
if i got it right click the like button below and let me know in the comments
so how's it working well each of the toothpicks i've put a little motor no i'm just kidding
there's actually a thing called capillary action going on right now capillaries are tiny hollow
tubes within plants trees or even the wood in these toothpicks capillary action is how plants
get water to move up against gravity from their roots to their branches water is attracted to
the sides of these tiny straw-like capillaries but water is also attracted to like molecules of water
when a liquid's attraction to a different material known as adhesion if that outweighs its attraction
to like molecules or cohesion then the liquid will climb the surface of that different material and
it will pull like molecules along with it the flow of this liquid along a surface or through
a surface even if it's against gravity is known as capillary action the capillaries in this wood
of our toothpicks are swelling up with water as it climbs through them pulling in even more water and
as the fibers and the capillaries swell they're straightening out the bends which we made which
makes them move on their own all right so now that we know what capillary reaction is let's put it to
use let me show you how to set up this experiment uh you're gonna need five toothpicks they don't
have to be the color toothpicks you can actually use any ones the thicker the toothpick the better
and what we're gonna do is we're gonna bend them we're gonna try not to break them in half
but they're gonna bend like that and we're gonna do it for all five
now we're gonna put them in this arrangement with the bend parts towards the center
and if they don't line up that's okay just bend them even more
and that's it that's the shape right there all the bends into the center with five different
toothpicks and all you have to do is just add water by adding a little bit of droplets
to the water in the center what's happening is the wood through that capillary reaction
starts absorbing the water this absorption of water causes the wood to expand as it swells up
that swelling up straightens out those fibers and causes these toothpicks to move now you can just
do this on a table and make it look like you have super powers isn't that great moves on its own
we'll try it out and see how it works out and if you have fun with it let me know
in the comments below and if you just enjoy making the impossible possible through science
then click the like button and subscribe to the channel and until next time stay curious
because the right question changes everything oh it just jumped out gets up it just runs away you