Joule's Experiment
[M | t++ | —]
Falling mass turns paddle wheel in honey raising its temperature.
Bag of Lead Shot
[M | t | ★]
Dropping bag containing lead turns gravitational potential energy to heat.
[In-Depth Description]
Friction Heating
[M | t | —]
Boy scout trick, rubbing metal rod with rope heats rod.
Adiabatic Heating with Syringe
[S | t+ | —]
Compression of gas within syringe heats gas and ignites cotton.
Adiabatic Heating
[M | t+ | ★]
Compression of gas within bicycle pump heats gas; alternatively, syringe PV=nRT (w/ Mac TC read-out).
[In-Depth Description]
Stirling Cycle Engine
[M | t+ | —]
Hot air external combustion engine.
Vortex Tube
[M | t++ | —]
This clever tube separates hot and cold air out of a jet of room temperature air and serves as a refrigerator.
Maxwell's Demon
[M | t | —]
Black and white balls, rolling around in a glass flask, are seemingly segregated by Maxwell's demon to decrease entropy.
Thermoelectric Motor
[S | t+ | —]
Two different temperature heat reservoirs power the motor - it's not how hot it is that counts but rather the temperature difference.
Steam Engine
[M | t+ | —]
Small steam engine to drive external dynamo and lamp.
Archibald Rubber Band Engine
[M | t+ | —]
Differential expansion and contraction of rubber bands turns wheel half-immersed in hot water.
Increasing Entropy
[M | t+ | —]
Two, sealed, connected, glass flasks contain smoky air and a vacuum respectively; opening the connecting valve increases the entropy of the system.
Videotape Entropy
[M | t+ | —]
Watch entropy increase with repeated re-recordings.
Mixing and Unmixing
[M | t+ | ★★★]
Food coloring in glycerine is mixed by turning a drum, then unmixed by reversing. Has entropy decreased?
[In-Depth Description]
Contact Us
Mailing Address: Lecture Demonstration Services, Science Center, Rm B-08A, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Campus Location: Science Center B-08A | Tel: (617) 495-5824 | Email: scidemos-at-fas.harvard.edu