Fire Writing, Tricks with Gravity and more

S1 E6: FIRE WRITING - Mr. Wizard shows Christian a sheet of paper on which a solution of potassium nitrate was painted and allowed to dry. Christian touches various points on the paper with a lighted punk. The paper burns only where there is potassium nitrate because it releases extra oxygen and that section burns forming a trail. PAPER TOWEL TUBE - Angela examines a paper tube from inside a roll of paper toweling. Mr. Wizard shows her a picture of three geometric figures and asks her to define them. She names and defines a rectangle, a parallelogram, and a trapezoid. She is to guess which shape will be formed when she opens the tube along the spiral line produced when the tube was formed. She guesses it will be a parallelogram. They open up the tube. She sees that the two sets of the opposite sides are parallel, therefore it is a parallelogram. FISH BOMBING RUN - This plane is on an unusual mission: a bomb run in the rocky mountains of Colorado. The target is that lake down below. The pilot, Wayne Russell, of the Colorado State Division of Wildlife starts his dive. He has to be about 100 feet over the water and flying no faster than 80 miles per hour. Then bombs away! HOW A BIRD FLIES - A flying bird on a video monitor helps Mr. Wizard pose the problem of how a bird can fly. He has Jennifer blow over a piece of paper to reduce the air pressure there. The normal pressure underneath forces it up. She blows over paper curved like a wing shape which also moves upward. They look at a real bird's wing and note it's shape. Jennifer asks what makes the bird move forward? IMPOSSIBLE HOLES - Scott is going to cut a piece of paper to make it look like another piece in which there appears to be two impossible holes. A sheet of paper is plain on one side plain and the striped on the other. While hiding it from Scott, Mr. Wizard folds it to produce the strange holes. When Scott can see the finished piece, he realizes how one side of the paper has been turned over after it has been cut. Mr. Wizard shows him how to cut, fold, and flip one side of the paper to make two “impossible” holes. BLEACH ART - Leila is not impressed with the artistic quality of the art work Mr. Wizard has displayed around the kitchen. He challenges her to paint something of her own using construction paper and bleach. The chlorine in the bleach breaks down water (H20) releasing the oxygen which does the actual bleaching. She uses various common items to paint her own design on a sheet of construction paper. Mr. Wizard tries to guess what it is until Leila identifies it as a jellyfish. WOOLLY APHIDS - What look like balls of wool are the so‑called woolly aphids, small insects that suck plant juices. Ants milk the aphids for the sweet liquid they excrete and attack and kill any insect that might prey on the aphids. TRICKS WITH GRAVITY - Tanis tries to get up from a chair while Mr. Wizard holds his index finger on her forehead. She can't get up. She gets up from a chair and notes how she shifts her center of gravity from the seat to her feet in order to stand up. COMPUTER EXPLOSION – Mr. Wizard narrates a computer’s description of pressure and indicated explosions. HOME MADE FIRE EXTINGUISHER – Mr. Wizard shows Christian how to use water, vinegar and sodium bicarbonate to make a home-made fire extinguisher.