As we are all children in our hearts and are curious by nature, we find science is a subject where we can learn, explore and play. Fun facts about everyday life and the great mysteries of the universe always fascinate us, no matter our age. The kids are in school and doing their homework. Lest we allow them to explore more science than us, let us discover incredible science facts and more’ plus a little bit of humor along the way. First – the most important tool of the student.
The Secret Science of Pencils & Erasers. “Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak,” states the first of Margaret Atwood’s 10 rules of writing. “But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.”
When was the first pencil invented? Originally, graphite sticks were wrapped in string. Later, the graphite was inserted into hollowed-out wooden sticks and, thus, the wood-cased pencil was born. The first modern pencil was invented in 1795 by Nicholas-Jacques Conte, a scientist serving in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Was the first pencil called a pencil? Initially it was believed to be a form of lead and was called ‘plumbago’ or black lead. And this misnomer still echoes in our talk of pencil ‘leads’. It was called graphite only in 1789, using the Greek word ‘graphein’ meaning ‘to write’. It’s been estimated that the average pencil has enough graphite to write about 45,000 words! Let’s start that essay.
Did you know there is ‘the oldest pencil’? For three centuries a handmade pencil lay hidden in the attic of a house built in 1630 until it was discovered during renovations in the 1960s. It is believed to have been left behind by carpenters. Today it is the oldest known pencil in the world and can be found in the Faber-Castell archives.
Can you imagine not being able to erase your mistakes? If you made a mistake before they invented erasers people used to use bread! There went your afternoon sandwich. So when and where did that fabulous invention of the erasure appear?
Erasers were invented by accident. Though Joseph Priestly may have discovered rubber’s erasing properties, it’s the British engineer Edward Nairne who is generally credited with developing and marketing the first rubber eraser in Europe. Pencils with built-in erasers on the tops are a largely American phenomenon. Most pencils sold in Europe are eraser-less.
Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia was granted a patent on March 30, 1858 for creating the first wood- cased pencil with an attached rubber eraser, thereby revolutionizing classrooms. However, eventually this patent was overturned because it was determined to be simply a composite of two devices rather than an entirely new product.
Now to the important stuff. Why does pop bubble so much when you pour it on ice cream to make a float? Ice cream may look smooth, but if you could see it with a powerful microscope, you would see something different. Throughout ice cream there are very tiny ice crystals. The gas molecules from the pop gather on these tiny crystals and become bubbles of gas. If the ice cream is already wet, some of the points are smoother so not as many bubbles form. (As a side note – if you pour the root beer in first before the ice cream, it doesn’t foam as much).
Can any corn become popcorn? Not all corn pops! Popcorn is a special type of corn. Some other grains, such as quinoa and sorghum, can pop too; but popcorn is the biggest and best popper! Popped popcorn typically fills about 40 times the space it did when it was just a pile of kernels.
Ever wonder why some popped popcorn is rounder-looking than other popcorn? Popcorn comes in two basic shapes— butterfly and mushroom. Butterfly popcorn has a very irregular shape with large bumps. It has a light crispy texture but can break easily. The mushroom-shaped popcorn is round with a rough surface. This shape makes it sturdy enough to stir and as you add tasty flavorings such as powdered cheese or sugar for sweet-tasting kettle corn.
For more fun stuff. Our science has to be more fun than schools. We need to know the Secret Science of BUBBLES!! Did you wonder how big can a bubble get? The biggest bubbles are made with two sticks and a loop of string between them. Using a special bubble solution, a large thin film of solution is made in the loop. Then the loop is then pulled through the air to form a giant bubble! Sure beats the small hoop in the bottle of bubbles you by.
The wall of a bubble is actually made of three layers – an inner and outer layer made of soap or detergent and a layer of water in between. It’s like a water sandwich with soap as the bread. (What a delightful sandwich). Water evaporating from the bubble film makes the bubble film so thin that the bubble pops. The wall of a bubble is extremely thin.
But bubbles don’t last long for the most part. So how can you make bubbles last longer? The secret to making bubbles last longer is to add something to the solution to make the water evaporate more slowly. Sugar or a substance called glycerin can do the trick! There is even a bubble solution made from a type of plastic that makes bubbles that you can catch on your finger without popping!
So for the adventurous or creative/crafty type. Can you make one bubble inside another? This is supposing you can even make one bubble. The easiest way to make a bubble inside another bubble is to pour some bubble solution in a large plastic plate. Use a straw to gently blow one big bubble that fills the plate. Then poke the straw through the bubble and gently blow another bubble inside of it. So hopefully you can make the first bubble to become the wonder creator of two bubbles! Maybe we should have a bubble blowing contest on the streets of the town!!
Did you know some of the particles that make up living things have been found in outer space? One is alcohol. Astronomers estimate that a huge cloud in the constellation of Sagittarius contains enough ethyl alcohol to make 10,000 million, million, million, million bottles of whiskey. That could lead to a really bad hangover. Save me some Parker’s Hangover Tonic.
We don’t think of oxygen as anything but an invisible component in the air we breathe, but unlike many other gases on the periodic table, oxygen isn’t colorless. If you cool O2 down until it becomes a liquid or freezes solid, you’ll see that it’s an incredibly pale blue.
A few more quick fun facts. Bet you didn’t know that like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. The average person’s left hand does 56% of the typing when using the proper position of the hands on the keyboard. Hunting and pecking don’t count! “Stewardesses” is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
See how cool science can be? There are only four words in the English language which end in “dous”: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. Now hasn’t all this science been stupendous and not horrendous with tremendous learning and definitely not at all hazardous?