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Unit 1: Mechanics Page 22
with opposite poles facing one Experiment: Force Cereal
another will pull themselves
together. Did you know that your cereal may
be magnetic? Find a bowl of some
Using a compass and the Earth, sort of “O” shaped cereal, milk, a
you can do a simple experiment to bowl, and a spoon. Ready?
detect the magnetic field of our
planet. (If you don’t have a 1. Fill the bowl with milk.
compass, just slide a magnet along
the length of a needle several 2. Put about 20 pieces of cereal
times (make sure you only swipe in (not the whole box!) into the bowl.
one direction!) then stick it through
a cork or bit of foam. Float the 3. Stir up the bowl a little and
needle-foam thing in a cup of watch what happens.
water.)
If you watched carefully, you saw
1. Look at the compass that as the cereal “O’s” got close to
one another, they attracted each
2. Walk anywhere and keep your other. The closer they got, the
eye on the compass. stronger was their attraction to
each other and the faster they
3. Turn around in circles and keep moved towards each other. If you
your eye on the compass (don’t get wait and watch long enough, you
too dizzy). get a nice tight batch of cereal all
clustered together in one or two
Again a very simple little activity, big blobs. This activity is a great
but I hope you can see the point. illustration of what is meant by the
No matter where you went or what inverse square law because the
you did, that needle always pointed attraction between “O’s” was
the same direction! The Earth’s stronger the closer they got to
magnetic force field, another each other.
strange and mysterious force,
always pushes that needle in the I discovered this activity one
same direction. It’s invisible and morning as I was eating cereal.
you can’t feel it…but the needle The same thing happens with
can! bubbles when you’re doing the
dishes. Science is everywhere! Feel
free to eat the cereal.
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