Fun Science Activities

  It was a cloudy day when me, P & P decided to get inside the pool around 6 pm. Since it was our summer break and didn't get a chance to go for a swim for a while we decided to go even though it started to drizzle a bit. We were mentally prepared to feel the water cold compared to outside temperature. Instead, what we experienced was that the pool was warm and when we stopped swimming and came out of the water it was cold. It was very intriguing to note that our assumptions were wrong. Even after I came back home and made a cup of tea the curiosity to understand why the pool water was warm compared to outside air was still lingering in my head. Suddenly, it dawned on me about the specific heat capacity of matters (water, air) I had studied during my school days and to confirm did a bit of reading and found the following. Since the specific heat capacity of water is very high compared to air the water absorbs the heat during the day and feels warm when you enter t...

The other day my daughter 'P" went for a swim with her friends for about 2 hrs. Though I had told her not to stay in the water for more than an hour she continued playing for long at the pool. When she came back home she was all worried about " why her fingers and toes were looking different?". To make her understand I explained about the 3 layers of the skin. The outer most tough layer is the epidermis which is made of dead keratin cells. Keratin is a kind of protein which is found in hair, nails and outer most layer of the skin. This is the layer that prevents the skin from water evaporation and protects the layer beneath it. When you stay in water for a long time epidermis which is made of dead keratin cells absorbs water and swells. This stretches the surface area of the skin attached to the living tissue. To accommodate this the skin wrinkles. Then she asked me a valid question why it happens only on our hands and feet and not on other parts of the...

COOL MOON F ACTS We all know that the natural satellite "Luna" that hovers above us is the moon though it  disappears for some nights. Moon phases and the moon's orbit is a mystery for some of us. We all know that the natural satellite "Luna" that hovers above us is the moon though it  disappears for some nights. Moon phases and the moon's orbit is a mystery for some of us. Did you notice that we get to see the same face (one side) of the moon always. That is because it takes 27.3 days for both the moon to spin on its axis and orbit around the earth. It is in a synchronous rotation with the earth. Scientists believe that the moon's orbit is expanding over time as it slows down. For example, billion years ago, the Moon was much closer to the Earth  and took only 20 days to orbit the Earth. Also, one Earth 'day' was about 18 hours long (instead of our 24 hour day). The tides on Earth were also much stronger since the moon was clos...