Not your usual experiment, this is a book: “The League of Scientists” is a young adult fiction book by Andy Kaiser (the creator of Digital Bits Science Lab).

Equipment needed:

The League of Scientists is available here: http://www.LeagueOfScientists.com

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

The League of Scientists is a group of smart kids who love science. They use their knowledge and critical thinking skills to solve seemingly-supernatural mysteries.

One of the components of the book is the mystery aspect, and not just the “main” mystery. In most chapters, there is a puzzle. The solution to the puzzle involves the application of science or critical thinking. The book is intended to give science education (and scientific applications – something you don’t always get from such fiction) while still giving kids a good story and characters.

Learn about inertia and Newton’s First Law of Motion.

Equipment needed:

One raw egg (or more, if you’re clumsy!)

One hard-boiled egg

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

This experiment is often described as “how to tell a raw egg from a hard-boiled egg without breaking them”. You simply spin both eggs on a flat surface: The egg that spins smoothly is the hard-boiled egg. The egg that wobbles as it spins is the raw egg.

What’s happening here? The hard-boiled egg spins smoothly and quickly because the egg inside is solid. The raw egg wobbles as it spins because the egg inside is liquid. As the egg is spinning, the liquid inside sloshes around, and affects the egg’s spin. Why does this affect the egg’s spin? It’s because of Newton’s First Law of Motion. This law states: “An object in motion remains in motion, unless acted upon by an external force.” Put more simply, Newton’s First Law says, “if something is moving, it’ll keep moving unless something else stops it”.

Here we have our example of Newton’s First Law of Motion, the raw egg. Try this: give the raw egg a good spin. As it spins, stop the egg by quickly putting your finger on the top of the egg. Then just as quickly, remove your finger. This action should be fast, perhaps half a second at most. When you remove your finger, you’ll see the stopped egg begin spinning again!

The egg keeps spinning after we stop it because the liquid egg inside remains in motion. The shell of the egg was stopped by our finger, but the inside keeps on going.

Within seconds, the raw egg will stop spinning. This is because of many factors: The friction between the table and egg will slow the egg and eventually stop it. Though the liquid inside the egg keeps moving, it too slows down and stops because the hard shell contains the liquid and eventually prevents it from moving.

See what colors combine to form other colors. Make a CD spinner to improve the testing, giving you a color combiner that can be reused with any color you want.

Equipment needed:

One CD that’s no longer needed (like a music CD, a “Free AOL CD”, or a blank computer CD)

Washable markers

A penny

A pliers

A gas flame (like from a gas stove, gas fireplace, or propane grill)

The Digital Bits Science Lab Experiment:

Hold the penny with the pliers. Heat the penny for thirty seconds over a gas flame. (A candle won’t work – it’s not hot enough.)

Hold the CD carefully, and use the pliers to gently push the penny into the CD’s center hole:

The penny will be hot and the CD will melt. Try to place the penny so it bisects the CD. Hold it there until the penny cools enough for the CD plastic to harden and hold it in place. (Blow on the penny, and this will take only another ten or twenty seconds.)

Now you’ve got something special: It’s a washable, CD spinner.

Get the washable markers and color the CD with a couple of colors. We’ll use red and blue in our example. Make sure to color so the whole of the CD is covered, and make sure your colors alternate frequently:

Now spin it!

You’ll see the red and blue will combine and form purple:

When you want to try different colors, it’s easy – the CD and washable markers come off just by rinsing:

Use this experiment to learn about colors and color combinations. And have fun spinning.