• Question: what experiments can i do at home and how do you do them

    Asked by scientist124 to Daniel, Jon, Louise, Sharon, Zoe on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Louise Dash

      Louise Dash answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      There are lots!

      Have a look at this page of experiments to do at home using stuff you can get from a supermarket (or even your fridge) – this is a website developed by chemists here at the University of York:
      http://www.york.ac.uk/res/sots/activities.htm

      You can grow crystals, make your own silly putty and even extract DNA from kiwifruit!

      Hope you have fun! 😀

    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      here is an easy one that you can do which looks at how your senses work.
      You need 2 people to do this, a blindfold and some chocolate. You need 2 pieces of white, milk and dark chocolate for each person.

      Blindfold the “tester” and get them to eat one piece of each of the kinds of chocolate. Ask them to tell you which kind it is. This should be pretty easy.
      Next, get the tester to pinch their nose, so they can’t breathe through their nose, and smell anything. If you have swimming nose clips, you could use these!
      Get them to eat the other piece of each of the kinds of chocolate. Ask them to tell you which kind it is. This time it should be harder, and you may not be able to tell the difference. This experiment is designed to show you that your sense of smell actually contributes to our sense of taste! If you don’t like chocolate, you could try it with other food!

    • Photo: Jon Copley

      Jon Copley answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      For some great experiments to do at home (like measuring the speed of light using a chocolate bar and a microwave, or extracting your own DNA to look at), I’d recommend this book “100 things to do before you die (plus a few to do afterwards)” – here it is on Amazon:

      http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1861979258/026-1893358-4643660?v=glance&n=266239&s=books&v=glance

      I wrote a couple of the “100 things to do” in it (but they weren’t the experiments-to-do-at-home ones).

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