Science Roadshow
On the 25 and 26 April, students across Year 7-10 were able to enjoy the amazing interactive activities brought into school by the Science Roadshow team. These activities encouraged students to practise their problem-solving skills and explore things from a different point of view. The Science Roadshow started off with a show about transforming liquids and adding different chemicals to examine how the liquid would react. During the experiment, the hosts used a lot of equipment that are commonly known water, baking soda, salt, slime and many more.
Another memorable experience was exploring the interactive activities independently. These activities help students to understand and discover the many aspects of science, some focus on teaching students water pressure, while others focus on explaining how mechanics work.
These wide range of interactive activities helped students to grow their passion for science and the understanding of the world around us. A special thank you to Mr Williamson, the Science Roadshow team, and all those who made this event possible.
Imploding drum
As part of Science Week (25 – 29 April 2024), on 27 April, hundreds of students gathered in around the courtyard to witness a science implosion. Everyone was especially excited about the loud sound of the implosion while Mr Mack, the demonstrator, sprayed the cold water all over the oil drum. After spraying for about 3 minutes, he gave the signal that the sound we were all waiting for was about to come, then the oil drum make a loud and sudden “BOOM!” The oil drum imploded with a sudden movement.
Article by: Marcus, Arwyn and Ramon
Here’s the science behind it (from Mr. Mack): about 4 litres of hot water was placed inside a very large drum and the drum was heated using a portable gas cooker until the water had boiled vigorously for a few minutes. The lid was placed on and fastened closed, and the cooker turned off.
The drum was hosed down in an attempt to cool the inside (cooling the bottom works well as the water in the bottom of the drum was still close to boiling point and so cooling that cooled the drum quite quickly). The drum then suddenly “imploded” with a loud bang.
The simple explanation is that in heating the water in the drum the water changes phase from liquid to gas. Continuous heating drives the air out and water vapour continues to occupy and begin to leave the drum. After a while the contents of the drum is mainly water vapour at a temperature of 100°C or above.
When the drum is closed the system is sealed off from the outside. So as the contents begin to cool the vapour begins to condense. In the phase change, there is a volume change – liquid occupies significantly less space than gas. This decrease in volume results in a decrease in pressure. With atmospheric pressure being significantly greater than the pressure inside the walls of the container are not able to withstand the pressure differential and move to relieve the stress. So, the drum collapses in on itself.
