Do not try this experiment at home. This experiment is done by firefighters to demonstrate the movement of flammable gases that are lighter than air.
There are 13 gases that are lighter than air and rise. The rest of the gases sit low or fall. Methane gas rises and is sometimes present during a fire. The Methane Mamba demonstrates the density of a gas, which is lighter than air. Filling soapy bubbles with methane gas will cause them to rise in a column and float.
On this experiment, Becky was given special instructions to wear fire retardant clothes and go light on the hair spray. The experiment is also a demonstration in how water can protect from burns. Becky placed her hands in soapy water before helping me with the demonstration. The water evaporated first, protecting Becky’s hands from the flames.
We’re back from another taping at the Ellen DeGeneres Show and we had a blast. I use the pronoun “we” because this taping required a team of people to orchestrate the final stunt… the Bed of Nails. This segment featured the Methane Bubble Fire Ball (always a crowd pleaser), a demonstration of Bernoulli’s Principle with floating ping-pong balls, beach balls and a new way to “TP” your friend’s house using a leaf blower (and who doesn’t like to decorate their friend’s home with toilet paper?). Learn more about all of the science demos.
The final science experiment was a demonstration of pressure… 4,538 points of pressure to be exact. The great people at the Arizona Science Center allowed us to borrow their Bed of Nails from their “Get Charged Up!” exhibit for the show. This was no easy task as the Bed of Nails (created by Hands-On exhibits in Flordia) weighs a mere 1,000 pounds. It’s by far the best Bed of Nails I’ve ever seen because the nails come up from the table. Just push the red button
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Last week the producers at the Ellen Show called to see if I had anything new that might amaze Ellen… and make her laugh. Hmmm… what do you think? After a few phone calls and some time trading some demo videos over e-mail, we’re set with the show line-up for Tuesday, April 15th. The most asked question I get after one of these appearances is how do I go about picking the science experiments. Does the producer pick everything? Do I get to make any suggestions? The answer is both. In the case of the Ellen Show, the producers come to me with some requests after watching a few of my science video segments from 9NEWS and ask for my feedback. We trade ideas and finally arrive at a final list of demos that the segment producer pitches to his executive producers. The moment we get the thumbs up, we move into high gear getting everything packed and shipped off to the studio in Burbank. That’s the boring answer to the question.
