Science Projects

Copper sulfate burns with more of a blue-green flame. (Anne Helmenstine) — Illuminating your Halloween jack o’ lantern with green fire is way more interesting than using a candle. Green fire just looks witchy! The effect is easy to achieve and yields fantastic results. Green Fire Jack o’ Lantern Materials You only need a few basic materials to put green fire in […]

Make a Green Fire Jack o’ Lantern

This entry was posted on October 15, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine

Real snowflakes are beautiful, but melt quickly. Grow borax crystal snowflakes and enjoy them as sparkling ornaments or decorations year-round. The snowflakes are naturally clear or white, but you can tint them blue or any color you like. Borax Crystal Snowflake Materials Basically, you’re growing borax crystals over a snowflake […]

Make Borax Crystal Snowflakes

This entry was posted on October 13, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine

Use white face paint and black eyeliner to make a simple skeleton costume. — Many commercial face paints contain chemicals you don’t want, such as perfumes, parabens, heavy metals, or allergens. They are also expensive for what you get. Here is a simple recipe for a homemade white face paint you can make that uses natural, non-toxic ingredients. White Face Paint Materials You only […]

Easy White Face Paint Recipe Recently updated !

This entry was posted on October 13, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on October 13, 2018)

Shine a low pressure sodium lamp on a flame colored with table salt for a black flame pumpkin. — First, there was the green fire pumpkin. Then, I made a rainbow flames pumpkin. That was cool, but then there was the flamethrower jack o’ lantern. How could I top that? Well, this black flames Halloween jack o’ lantern is less likely to require a fire extinguisher, and actually way […]

Black Flames Halloween Jack o’ Lantern

This entry was posted on October 3, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on October 4, 2018)

Bismuth crystals (Dschwen) — Bismuth crystals are one of the easiest and most beautiful metal crystals to grow. These crystals are known for their rainbow colors that are caused by the oxide layer that forms on the metal. Bismuth crystallizes into an intricate geometric “hopper” form. Bismuth Crystal Materials You only need a few […]

How to Grow Bismuth Crystals

This entry was posted on October 3, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine

For real: If you shine a low-pressure sodium lamp on a yellow sodium flame, the flame will be black. — Flames emits light and heat, so it seems impossible to make black fire. However, you actually can make black fire by controlling the wavelengths of absorbed and emitted light. Black Fire Materials The set-up is simple and only requires a few materials: Alcohol Salt solution Low-pressure sodium (LPS) lamp Alcohol […]

How to Make Black Fire Recently updated !

This entry was posted on September 29, 2018 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on October 13, 2018)