Pouring Treacle
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Pouring Treacle
Ysgol Maes Garmon
Download film (right-click)Chemistry , Demonstration , Investigation , Physics , Secondary
Forget combs and dribbling taps - what you need is a balloon and some treacle!
Director's Notes:
Static electricity is a stalwart of those impossibly tedious ‘400 Things To Do On A Rainy Day When You’re Really Really Bored And You’ve Already Gnawed a Table Leg Off Just To See What Happens’ books. Strange, then, that while everyone knows the ‘hold a charged comb next to a gently running tap and watch almost nothing happen’ experiment, this much more impressive variation is rare.
It works with treacle, honey, golden syrup — any sugary fluid like that. Just make sure you cover the floor in bin bags or newspaper, and try not to get the goop… in… your… hair. Ah. Too late, huh?
As for the film: The group kept running out of balloons of the right colour, so with a stroke of genius they went back and re-recorded every single clip with a different colour balloon. Brilliant.
SciCast Notes:
This group had me worried. They were intensely busy, looked to be taking everything extremely seriously, had a couple of minor rows… but always looked like they were filming the same part of the film over and over and over. Yet whenever I asked if they were OK they shooed me away, too busy to talk.
As it turned out, they were filming the same piece over and over, trying to get it right. The result is a very nicely put-together film that manages to capture a clear close-up of something that’s surprisingly hard to photograph, while rattling along in a joyously manic style. Plus, it’s really short.
I’m a big fan.
— Jonathan.