Friday, January 16, 2009

the quest for knowledge


It's currently -22C (-8F) outside with a windchill of -27C (-17F). Compared to the last couple of days, it's positively balmy.


My spouse came home today with a yearning to do a science experiment. It involved a spray bottle full of boiling water and very cold temperatures. We had ready access to both.

My oldest son and my spouse went outside on our back porch to freeze in the interest of science (my youngest was having none of it, preferring to remain indoors and watch science unfold onscreen, via The Magic School Bus). The results were actually pretty cool.


Apparently, it's cold enough out to freeze boiling water in mid-air.


Note the pained look on my son's face. He'd insisted on going outside without a coat or hat and was paying the price.



Honestly, this man missed his calling. He would have made a great teacher.


7 comments:

Michael said...

In Winnipeg the test is to see if your pee hits the ground frozen. An act best reserved for men.

Anonymous said...

Another fun experiment is to blow soap bubbles outside in the winter. If the cold is extreme enough, they'll freeze.

And then ... I guess you have some frozen bubbles.

That is all.

Patchen

Anonymous said...

Cool I want to show that to my daughter. The thing with the water. Not that other thing.

Anonymous said...

That's really cool...and if you tried the bubble experiment with something like Touch-a-Bubbles, you'd have awesome huge frozen bubbles maybe floating around. Would they shatter if you poked them?

Maybe your husband missed his teacher's calling, but the most important thing is that he didn't miss his fatherhood calling. You picked well.

Dee said...

Great experiment! But I think I'll leave the "Winnipeg test" to Michael! That gave me a giggle.

laurie said...

This is among my favourite sets of blog comments, ever.

Mom2Amara said...

We had tried the bubbles trick. Very cool. But never thought to do the hot water. Will have to remember for next time!

And yes, very "colorful" comments :)