Community Magazine March 2003

50 C OMMUNITY M AGAZINE S c i en ce C REAT IVE C O L O R S EFFECT: The primary colors Red, Blue and Yellow are combined to form a rainbow of hues. REQUIREMENTS: Red, blue and yel- low food color, 1 cup milk, dish soap and a shallow bow.l DIRECTIONS: 1. Pour 1 cup of milk into the bowl 2. Add 3 drops of red food color to one edge of the bowl. 3. 1/3 of the way away, add 3 drops of blue food color. 4. 1/3 of the way away add 3 drops of yellow 5. Making sure not mix or jiggle the bowl, squeeze a drop of dish soap in the center of the bowl. HOW IT WORKS: Red, blue and yellow are called the primary colors. Just by mixing these colors, you can get all the colors of the rain- bow: RED + YELLOW = ORANGE RED + BLUE = PURPLE BLUE + YELLOW = GREEN The dish soap does not mix with the milk. Instead it floats on top and spreads over the surface. As it spreads, it grabs the food color we dropped into it. Where the colors meet, they combine to form new colors:. M AGIC E MPTY B EER B OTTLE T RICK BY: SHELLY! EFFECT: A "magic" wand appears to be suspend- ed inside and inverted bottle REQUIREMENTS: Non-see-through bottle with narrow opening (big enough to fit the wand). A beer bottle works well, a magic wand (a simple pencil will do) that is taller than the bot- tle and an eraser. Secret: The eraser is used to wedge the wand inside the bottle as it is turned over DIRECTIONS: 1. Cut a piece off the eraser, just large enough to wedge the wand into the opening of the bot- tle. The eraser is what makes the trick work! 2. Pass the bottle to a volunteer and ask them to make sure it is empty. 3. Take back the bottle and give your volunteer the wand. Meanwhile, slip the piece of eraser into the bottle without anyone seeing (you can have it in your pocket until this point). 4. Take the wand back and drop it into the bot- tle noting how easily it falls in. 5. Pick up the wand and bottle and turn them VERY SLOWLY upside down 6. Pull on the wand slightly when the bottle is turning over so the piece of eraser gets wedged into the opening (you'll need to practice this a few times) 7. Let go of the wand... and PRESTO! It doesn't fall out! 8. Slowly turn upright again and amazingly the wand remains suspended in the bottle (it does- n't fall back down). 9. To remove the wand, push it in slightly to release the eraser and then take it out. Make sure no one sees the eraser in the bottle after- wards either.