Electrified Mirror A silver-backed hand mirror on a lady’s dressing table looks very unlike an electrical instrument, yet a number of electrical experiments can be made with its help. A friend of the writer once described how he had used one in intercepting a wireless message. Perhaps he will be inducted to tell the story some day, but it is …

Floating Match Take a small enamelled bowl and fill it with water. When all the ripples have died away and there is no movement, gently place a matchstick on the surface, in the centre. An inch from the middle of the match, suspend a lump of sugar so that it is partly submerged. This can be done by running a …

How Air Comes In and Goes Out of a Room This is an experiment which can best be performed on a winter’s evening when your dining-room is nice and warm because the fire has been alight for some hours. Just open the door an inch or more and hold a lighted candle near the opening. First, we want you to …

A Home Made Rainbow Probably you have made rainbows in the garden many a time by playing the hose-pipe on the flowers while the sun was shining. It only requires a little experimenting to get the correct angle for the jet of water, and you have a quite decent rainbow in miniature. But here is a much better way, though …

Comparing The Strength of Different Illuminants It is not at all an easy matter to say that one kind of light is two, three, four, or more times as strong as another. We can make a rough guess and say that this illuminant is more powerful than that; but it is difficult to go further, if depending merely upon the …

A Question of Balance Take a piece of cardboard cut to some very irregular shape and endeavor to balance it on the end of a pencil. You will have to try a good many spots before you find the one that gives you a true balance. Of course, if you are dealing with a square or a circle, it will …

The Coin That Comes Into View This very simple experiment open people’s eyes. Take a bowl that you cannot see through, i.e., it must not be made of glass. Place a coin inside it, on the bottom; but place it up against the side so that it is just out of view. Now, whatever you do, do not move the …

Liquids of Different Densities The following experiment is not showy like some that. It is very important, having far-reaching effects in our daily life. It is quite simple. You take a bottle and pour into it a quantity of oil-any kind will do, as long as it is slightly coloured. Then you add some water and, if you have any, …

Trees Made of Chemicals This experiment is one of the easiest, yet one of the most showy that you can perform. Get a tall gas jar, or if this is not handy, a glass tumbler will do. Place in it a tea spoonful of water glass. This is the syrupy liquid which chemists sell for picking eggs. Then fill up …

An Experiment With a Candle Flame Light a candle, then hold a stiff piece of paper in the flame. Put it in position smartly and see that it is horizontal. It should be held rather low down in the flame. Two or three seconds will be long enough for the experiment for the experiment. At the end of this time, …