Simon has been experimenting away, mostly inspired by Physics Girl. Below are a few of his favourite experiments.
The Confused Peanuts. Mixing tap water and carbonated water creates this interesting effect:
Blowing a candle out with CO2 (produced by the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar).
Placing a candle flame inside a copper coil:
The flame almost dies (as copper stars its heat and oxygen):
But comes back to life beautifully a soon as the coil is raised:
Burning two matches inside an upside down glass. Light two matches fixed in a plate with water and cover them with a glass. As soon as the flames die, the water in the plate will get sucked into the glass, i.e. the water level inside the glass rises as compared to the level in the plate. There are several factors at play, physical and chemical, including differences in pressure and extra water being released by burning cellulose.
Bending a light beam. Make a hole in a plastic water bottle and fill it with water so that water leaks through the hole. Then place a source of bright lite opposite to the hole (shine with your smartphone flashlight or laser pointer through the bottle). You’ll see that light will get trapped inside the water streaming from the hole. Below is Simon’s drawing of the experiment and a modified version he wants to try out using two bottles connected with a plastic straw.
Geeks out of the box 