The balancing can experiment
On Sublime Science they have lots of cool and easy to do experiments which are explained scientifically too. Yesterday I had a go at trying to balance a coke can. This little experiment can be done in about 30 seconds and all you need is a can of fizzy drink! We all know that fizzy drinks aren’t great for us but we can at least do a quick experiment to learn about why things balance!
What do you need:
- Just a can of fizzy drink
How do I do it?
STEP 1 – Good news! The very first step is to open up your can and start drinking! Don’t drink it all though…
STEP 2 – Once you’re down to about one third of your can remaining you’ll be able to turn the can onto its side and balance it as shown.
STEP 3 – It really looks as though it’s going to fall but as long as you’ve left the right amount in, it’ll balance!
STEP 4 – Take a picture and send it to liam.wanless@parkside.herts.sch.uk
Have a think and discussion with an adult or an older sibling about why the can is balancing before looking at https://www.sublimescience.com/free-science-experiments/balancing-can-experiment/ to see the scientific explanation.
