Bath Taps Into Physics

Marvin & Milo’s fun physics made its first appearance at the the annual Bath Taps Into Science Fair on March 13th & 14th 2009.   Students from the Physics Department at Bath University enthusiastically demonstrated some of the ‘Do Try This At Home‘ experiments to the fascinated school children and residents of Bath.

Young and old alike were fascinated by physics

Over 2 days we helped the audience find out more about everyday physics of sound & pitch, density & buoyancy, air pressure and back spin.   The experiments included, ‘Inseparable Books’,  ‘Loop The Loop’ flying cups and ‘Cartesian Ketchup Sachet Divers’, but by far the most popular activity was making ‘Loud Lollies’ – noisy little harmonicas made from lolly sticks and a carefully placed elastic band!  We went through 800 lolly sticks on the Friday alone!

Loud Lollies - What sound does yours make?

Young children in particular were amazed by the ‘Magic Balloon’ trick , where a balloon stays inflated inside a plastic bottle, even though the end isn’t tied!  (See Marvin & Milo’s pages on physics.org for the explanation).  It was great to hear children who had visited with their school on the Friday returning with their parents & siblings on the Saturday to show off their new-found science knowledge to them!

Lots of puff needed for the Magic Balloon!

Over the 2 days we estimate that we spoke to around 700 people, and much fun was had by all!  This is the third year that there has been a Physics stand organised by the Institute’s South West Regional Officer at the Fair, which is the brain-child of the Maths Department at Bath University and is part of their National Science &  Engineering Week celebrations.  It takes place at the Founders Sports Hall (University of Bath) and Green Park Station in central Bath every year.  See you there in 2010 maybe…