Photo in a lamp

Look to an object and see beyond the obvious is a good exercise. Our brain must be trained to do this. A good way to train this is to reuse objects; sometimes we trash materials that can be something else. This thinking promotes recycling and stimulates the reuse, encouraging energy saving with the waste reduction.

Old lamps are good objects to reuse, we can pain them, we can fill them with color sand, make a jar... But there is a problem with lamps, open it, it's needed some training to open a lamp without broken it

What we need:

• pliers,
• screwdriver,
• lamp, Broken lamp to reuse
• a towel, rag,
• wire,
• wood block,
• sandpaper,
• acrylic paint,
• varnish,
• mini clothespin,
• glue, hot glue works better,
• lamp socket, you can buy it in any hardware store,
• screws, for the socket ,
• rubber feet, or felt;
• a photo, small enough to fit inside the lamp.

How to:

1. Sand the wood block;
2. Paint it with the acrylic paint, remember the bottom will be hidden and the top will be partially covered with the socket;
3. Let i dry for about 24h;
4. Varnish;
5. Let t dry again;
6. Glue the rubber feet on the bottom;

First phase is done, lets take a look on the lamp, this must be done by an adult

1. Place the lamp on the towel, and with the pliers, remove the metallic tip of the screw of the lamp. Just the tip, don’t use to many pressure on the lamp, grab the screw with your hand and the metallic tip with the pliers,  rotate steadily, be careful with your fingers, child must be away from you while you are doing this.
2. When we pull the tip with the pliers all lamp content is dragged out;
3. Confirm the lamp is really empty;
4. Wash the lamp with tap water;
5. Let it dry.

The lamp is ready, lets place the picture inside: 

1. Screw the lamp socket to the wood block;
2. Cut a piece of wire, about 2 and half times the height of the lamp;
3. With the pliers roll up the wire like the one on the image, when you finish this twisted wire must fit inside the lamp.
4. Glue the mini clothespin to the other end of the wire, upside down;
5. Bend the wire end, the curly section will support the picture, like feet, and the mini clothespin will work as a pin;
6. If the wire is too big cut it now;
7. Place the wire inside the lamp, remember to do the last adjustments to it, size and position;
8. Pin the Photo to the clothespin;
9. With careful and patience, place the set "wire + clothespin + photo" inside the lamp
10. If necessary use hot glue to fix the wire to the lamp socket.
11. Screw the lamp.

Et voilá!
A photogenic paperweight 

Enjoy!

Sources:
http://girlinair.blogspot.com/2011/05/lets-make-fathers-day-gift.htm

Instant facts- Just add water 11

Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
in http://www.funfactz.com/christmas-facts/

Instant facts- Just add water 10

Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.
in http://listverse.com/2007/10/29/top-20-facts-about-sleep/

Rainbow in a jar- density column

Sometimes the simplest things are the funniest. This demonstration shows multicolored layers in a jar without using much "chemistry". The final result is called "density column" because it allow us to make a pile with liquids with different densities, like we saw here.

In this project we are going to use sugar solutions with different concentrations. Those will form layers, the less dense (more diluted) at the top, the most dense (concentrated) at the bottom of the glass

We will need:

• sugar,
• water,
• food coloring,
• tablespoon,
• 5 transparent plastic cups, you can use flasks or glass cups but they must be transparent.

How to:

• Align the 5 cups on the table;
• Add 1 tablespoon of sugar in the first glass, 2 on the second, 3 on the  third... and so on, leave the fifth empty for now;
• Add 3 water tablespoons (about 45 ml) to the first 4 cups;
• Mix, homogenize the solution, if the sugar does not dissolve completely in any of the glasses add another tablespoon of water to all the glasses,
• Add 2-3 drops of red food coloring first glass, use yellow on the second, green on the third, and blue on the fourth;
• Mix again;
• Now let’s set up our rainbow. First the denser solution (more concentrated), in this demonstration is the blue with 4 sugar tablespoons. Fill 1/4 of the fifth glass with the blue solution;
• Carefully place the green solution on top of blue. The best way to do this is to put the tablespoon inside the glass, without touching the blue solution, and allow the green solution to flow along the spoon;   
• Repeat the procedure to all the solution in this order: Blue (done), Green (done), Yellow and Red. Each solution must occupy 1/4 of the glass.

Note:
If you don't succeed at the first try don't quit, try again. It’s hard to do it right without training.
There is no problem if you drink it, its only sugar water.

To make this demonstration a experiment try:

• To use flavored food coloring, what happens?
• To use water with different temperatures? Does this have any influence in the experience? How? Be careful with burns.
•  What happens if we disturb the equilibrium of the layers? try to use a toothpick and touch 2 or more layers with it.

Et Voilá!
Multicolored drinks, like witch potions.

Enjoy!

Christmas Origami star- tutorial

We already did the tree and some ornaments, like Christmas balls, now its time to do the Christmas Star.

What we need:
an old magazine, 5 sheets for each star,

How to:

1. Fold the sheet in half and open it again;

2 Fold the 2 up paper ends inside, like the picture;

3. Fold the triangle down;

4. Flip the paper horizontally;

5. Repeat step number 2;

 6. Fold it again, like you are doing a second triangle; now it looks like a paper airplane;

7. Flip it again horizontally;

8. Fold up the 2 little ends on the bottom;

9. Now make a thin roll with the paper up to the end of the paper;

10. When you reach the top flatten the paper with your fingers, now you must have something like the picture, this is one of the five star tips;

11. Each star have 5 tips

12. Fit the points as shown, first the back;

13. Then the front;

14. Repeat the procedure until all the tips are fit. this is the final result;

15. This is what it looks like on the back.

You can paint it as you wish, use glitter to make it shine!

Et voilá!
Without the star the tree is not a Christmas tree!

Enjoy!

Instant facts- Just add water 10

Every ton of mixed paper recycled can save the energy equivalent of 165 gallons of gasoline
in Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010- United States Environmental Protection Agency

Water properties- Adhesion and Cohesion

If we talk about water we must refer cohesion and adhesion.
We already talk about another water properties the surface tension, but without the first two the triad wouldn’t be complete.
Most of the times water molecules are attracted to each other, in this case we are dealing with cohesion, on the other hand, if water molecules are attracted to other materials then we are dealing with adhesion.


What makes it possible?
As we said in other articles water molecules are made by 2 H atoms and one O atom, this gives water molecule a neutral charge, but its structure allows the water molecule to establish hydrogen bonds between H atoms from different molecules, this bonds make molecules closer from each other, that phenomenon is called cohesion. If the attraction between the H atoms is weaker then the attraction between water molecules and other material molecules surrounding, the water molecules will bond to this surrounding material instead, we call this adhesion.


Examples:
All hydrophobic surfaces will repels water, this means the water molecules are not attracted to it and they form drops, this is cohesion, like wax paper or any waxed surface. Like the shower after being cleaned with specific soap, in fact a thin hydrophobic layer is formed to repel water- Cohesion.
It is also due to cohesion that the rain falls in droplets rather than molecules, otherwise we would call rain to something completely different


When water molecules are attracted to other surrounding molecules the phenomenon is called adhesion. We saw it here, remember? The water "climbed" the paper against gravity, this happened because water molecules were strongly attracted by cellulose molecules on the paper, this attraction was stronger then the attraction between H2O molecules.


Note this phenomenon only occur because one of the forces is stronger then the other.


In short:
Cohesion- when attraction forces between water molecules are stronger then the attraction forces between water and surrounding material molecules.
Adhesion- when attraction forces between water molecules are weaker then the attraction forces between water and surrounding material molecules.


The following demonstration its very simple and works very well to show cohesion


What we need:

1. 2 styrofoam cups,
2. water,
3. sharp pencil or any sharp object like a nail,
4. a bowl.

How to:

1. Choose an appropriate location;
2. With the pencil make two holes in the first cup, as close as possible but not touching, don't make them too large;
3. Fill the second cup with water;
4. Hold the punched cup above the bowl;
5. Pour the water from the second cup into the first;
6. The water should start to fall through the holes you made with the pencil;
7. Quickly, "hold" the two "threads" of water with your fingers (thumb and index).

Results:
The 2 "threads" become one.


Why?
The water molecules are attracted to each other.


Please note:

• Probably you will not make it work at first time, try again.
• If you are lucky you will achieve the optimal distance between the holes, in that scenario you will not need to use your fingers, the "threads" will become one naturally.

Sources: http://www.uni.edu/~iowawet/H2OProperties.html; http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae543.cfm

Et voilá!
Don’t get wet!
Enjoy!