Episode 6

S3 E6: DELICATE BALANCE - Mr. Wizard shows Stacey how delicate a balance is by waving his hand over it. The balance registers the force of the moving air. They study several sensitive weight measurements. POTATO POP GUN - Mr. Wizard tells Jason that they will make a gun based on the same principle as the children's pop gun that shoots a cork at the end of the string. THE ZEBRA - Mr. Wizard narrates. Some people think a zebra is a horse with stripes but that's not quite accurate. He explains all the differences that make zebras unique animals. DENSITY FLOAT - Mr. Wizard asks Karen whether a cork or metal nut will float or sink in a glass of water. Karen predicts correctly that the cork will float and the nut will sink. The density of the object as well as the density of the liquid determines whether an object will float. MISSING PIECE OF CAKE - Nicola looks at a drawing of a cake with one piece missing. The missing piece is found by inverting the picture, which now appears to be a single piece of cake. Mr. Wizard explains that we look at the drawing as though looking down at a real cake on a table. When the drawing is inverted, we still consider the view to be looking down. OPPOSITE THREADS - You no doubt have twiddled your thumbs. What if you did the same thing with 2 threaded rods? Hold them so they can't rotate and keep their grooves intermeshed. Will the ends move apart, come closer, or stay the same distance from each other? COLORED FLAMES IN FIREWORKS - Mr. Wizard burns various chemicals in a cupcake liner to produce colored flames like those seen in fireworks. He also stresses the importance of potential danger and never to do this unsupervised.