Today Inge and Magne are looking for the WHOOSH sound. Rapid combustion of methanol in a bottle creates a powerful "whoosh".
When you shake the bottle, the methanol evaporates. This means that it changes from liquid form to gaseous form. Alcohol in gaseous form burns much faster than in liquid form, because it is mixed with oxygen.
NB! Experiments must always follow the safety rules that apply to laboratory experiments. Remember hearing protection and goggles.
You need:
- Methanol. It is possible to use different types of alcohol for this experiment, e.g., ethanol or isopropanol
- A large plastic bottle, the bigger the better
- Lighter
- Fuse
Recipe:
- Wear safety goggles and hearing protection
- Inject 3-4 ml of methanol (CH3OH) into the large plastic bottle
- Rotate the bottle so that the methanol evaporates more easily
- After a few minutes, put the fuse in and light it
- You'll hear a distinct WHOOSH sound, and see a great flame
About UiS Christmas Calendar 2021:
The Joule calendar is made by Inge Christ, head of The School Laboratory of Science at UiS, and UiS professor Magne Sydnes. For the seventh year in a row, they make a Christmas calendar with chemistry and physics experiments, popular amongst both young and old. This year there is so much energy in circulation that the Christmas calendar was renamed " The Joule calendar". Joule" is one of several units for measuring energy and is pronounced “jul” in Norwegian. With “jul” being the Norwegian word for Christmas, “joule calendar” makes up a fun pun!
This year’s calendar includes a mixture of experiments that can be done at home without the risk of blowing up the house as well as experiments that should only be performed in a lab while taking the necessary precaution.
