One I’ve done is to get a laser pointer (making sure it’s got a label on that says Class 1 and is safe to use at home), and fill some glasses with water and a drop or two of milk. Shine the laser through the glass at different angles and positions. You’ll see the beam bend and reflect around in it. If you use fancy glasses you can get some very pretty patterns.
I used to love making bottle rockets when I was young, with warm water and Alka seltzer. It was really fun to try and work out what the correct temperature and amount of water to get the highest flying rocket was. I could never get parachutes to work quite right, and so they would usually land in my neighbours garden!
Creating an interference pattern (alternating bright and dark spots of light in a horizontal line) with a laser pen by shining it through the gap between my fingers. It never gets old.
It’s not an experiment so much as a simulation, but I like to write computer programs that create cloud chamber or bubble chamber patterns in real time. I like really trying to make them realistic, adding new hypothetical particles and seeing what happens.
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Christopher commented on :
It’s not an experiment so much as a simulation, but I like to write computer programs that create cloud chamber or bubble chamber patterns in real time. I like really trying to make them realistic, adding new hypothetical particles and seeing what happens.