Elementary Science Experiments
Penny Drops
These elementary science experiments, Penny Drops, challenges kids of all ages. The challenge is to see how many small drops of water will fit on the head of a penny without overflowing.
Materials
- Eye dropper
- Water
- Penny
- Paper towel
- Small bowl
- Scissors
Directions
- Cut a piece of paper towel into a 2 inch square.
- Place the paper
towel on a flat surface. Place the penny on top of the paper towel.
- Make
a prediction about how many drops of water you can put on the penny
before it overflows. Write down your prediction on a piece of paper.
- Have a friend count the number of drops as you do the experiment.
- See
how many you can place on the penny before the water overflows the penny
and gets the paper towel wet.
- Repeat the experiment with the person
counting before putting drops on a dry penny.
- Some eight grade students trying this experiment were able to put 165 drop on the penny before it overflowed!
Even more elementary science experiments.
- Do the experiment using a dime and quarter instead of a penny.
- Determine how many drops you can drop on different flat surfaces without the water flowing away.
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Science behind the experiments
The reason the water mounded up on the penny was because water molecules are attracted to each other. Each water molecule has a positive and negative charge just like a magnet. The positive side of a water molecule is attracted to the negative side of another water molecule.
The attraction creates surface tension on the water. This is why raindrops form little spheres of water before they begin falling through the clouds toward the Earth's surface.
More Links to Science Experiments
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Magnetism Experiments, Navigating the Oceans Do you know how to create a compass using only a needle and magnet? Try this easy experiment and find out!
Elementary Science Experiments, Penny Drops Find out how many drops of water you can put on the top of a penny without the water overflowing in this fun experiment.
Easy Science Experiments This page contains links to many more fun and easy experiments.
Kids Fun Science The links on this page include information science activities, science experiments, plate tectonics, the rock cycle and much more.
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