The Kid's a Genius!

I'd heard once about a kid who turned his mom's potting shed into a superfund site by building a nuclear reactor in it. I wanted to know more about it. So, I started looking it up.

WOW!

I mean, David Hahn started with nothing. He acquired lantern mantles (they use slightly radioactive thorium to burn so bright) and smoke detectors (they use slightly radioactive americium to detect a change in the air). Using these, he concentrated the radioactive materials to make them more radioactive. Then he started a reactor to literally turn them into uranium!

The only problem with all the information I read was, now I can do it myself!

I'm a responsible dad. Ten years ago, however, I'm not so sure I wouldn't have tried something like this. 'Course, though I always thought it would be cool to do it, I never really considered trying to do it on my own. I never had the foresight to use everyday materials to make it.

So, in our science lessons at home, we're sticking with the tame. For example, tomorrow's lesson (oh, yeah! We moved science day to Thursday to coordinate with other homeschool kids!) will be more about air pressure. We will crush soda cans with nothing more than hot air and cold water. It's really cool stuff!

Instructions:

Discuss pressure. Use the soda bottle with a balloon to show increasing and decreasing pressure. Now it's time for something a little more dramatic.
Get a pan with ice water.
Put a few drops of water in a soda can.
Heat the soda can, with the opening up, until steam starts escaping from the top. Use tongs to hold the soda can. I use BBQ tongs.
Quickly invert the soda can, putting it a couple inches deep in the ice water. The can will quickly compress as the hot air inside is cooled. It will also suck up water.

Don't worry - pictures will come. :)

posted by ClayMan @ 6:07 AM