Magic Water Glass Trick

Experiment & Video

Fill a glass two-thirds with water. Cover the mouth with an index card and invert (holding the card in place) over a sink. Remove your hand from the card. Voila!

Air pressure is pushing on all sides of both the glass and the card (this is called "atmospheric pressure"). Recall that higher pressure pushes, and when you have a difference in pressure, things move. This pressure difference causes storms, winds, and that card to stay in place.

What's Going On?

Where's the pressure difference in this trick? At the opening of the glass. The water inside the glass weighs a pound at best, and, depending on the size of the opening of the glass, the air pressure is exerting 15-30 pounds upward on the bottom of the card. Guess who wins?

Tip: when you get good at this experiment, try doing it over a friend's head!

Talk soon,

Aurora

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Defy gravity as you levitate water

Crush a soda can using a few drops of water

Make an indoor corkscrew roller coaster

Stick your kid inside a real bubble

Grow crystals overnight

Create and crack your own geodes

Build a flying machine that shouldn't be able to fly at all

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