Open your fingers and try to drop something: experiment with the body and its limitations

Description:

This is a fun experiment showing an interesting limitation of the human body: follow the instructions below, and try to open your fingers to simply drop an object. You won’t be able to do it!

Equipment needed:

A pair of hands (yours will work fine)

A friend

A small, flat object (a coin or bottlecap will work fine)

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

Clasp your hands together, folding all fingers down. Then fold up your ring fingers. Have your friend put the small, flat object between your two ring fingers, like so:

 

 

Now, try to separate your ring fingers and drop the object you’re holding.

You can’t.

You may notice you can slide your ring fingers from against each other, but you can’t actually move them apart.

What’s happening here? This is an easy demonstration of some of the limitations of the human body. When your hands are clasped together in that particular way, your tendons are pulled so that your fingers can’t move outward.

Your body is a well-functioning, intricate mechanical device. When you look at a human body, don’t think of it as a single unit. Realize that inside, there are many pieces and parts that work together. And in this experiment, you can put the body in such a position so that some of those parts don’t work!

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• Demonstration of veins, arteries and transpiration
• Levitate your arm with muscle memory
• Use a squeaky balloon to teach about air pressure, vocal cords and sound waves
• Make some noise – learn about sound with a “straw clarinet”