Sunday 15th May, from 16 to 19, a sporting event will take place on the mirror of the Ganzirri Lake, the “Ganzirri Challenge Regatta”, organized by ASD Canottieri Peloro, which will also be attended by a team of researchers from the University of Messina. At the same time, researchers from the University of Messina will present their research activities to the general public, via small exhibitions and practical demonstrations. Some of the activities will be devoted to kids, who will be involved in games and quizzes on the protection of the environment. Furthermore, a “MIND THE LAB” corner will be established, in which small educational experiments will take place, through which researchers will explain some phenomena of nature using commonly used objects.
The MIND THE LAB activities will be focused on the science experiments presented below:
Newton’s disk
By rotating a disc made up of the 7 colors of the rainbow, you get the illusion that the colors tend to be uniform and turn white.
The floating mandarin
If you put a mandarin in a container full of water, after a while it will float. But if you peel it and put it back in the water, it will sink. Why?
A small piece of plastic can overcome gravity
We cover the opening of a bottle full of water with a sheet of plastic: turning the bottle upside down, the water will not come out. Atmospheric pressure has won over the weight of water!
The spiteful match
A piece of bread floats on the water contained in a basin. We fix a match or a candle on the bread and light it. Covering with an upside-down glass, the flame gradually reduces until it goes out as the water level rises. What’s happening?
Coloring with physics
Have you ever tried to color a warped image? With physics, it is much simpler. Using an aluminum mirror with a cylindrical surface it is possible to transform a deformed image into its natural counterpart as if we were observing it not deformed.
The air cannon
We insert a disc with a hole in the center at the end of a cardboard tube and close the other end with the rubber of a balloon, well stretched. We light a candle and place the tube, on the side of the hole, about thirty centimeters from the flame: giving a sharp blow to the rubber that closes the other end of the tube, the flame will go out: what happened?