Too strong the newspaper!

1.      Why is this experience or invention useful? What is its usefulness?

This experience enables to demonstrate the air pressure. It also proves that the air has a mass. It is useful because that’s an easy and fun way to show a thing often unknown and so breaks prejudice like the idea that the air doesn’t weigh. This discovery and now properties have usefulness in all the things having a relation with the air and more precisely flying. Indeed, in the aerospace, the aeronautic, that is very important for some calculations, trajectories. . . And if there is a mistake, it would be very dangerous for the life of the people and the object. And finally, the air pressure is the thing to be studded to make an object fly.

2.      What are the materials or products used?

For this experience, we have just needed a ground support, here a table, a newspaper, and a wood plank or ruler which will be broken at the end of the experiment.

3.      What do you have to do to achieve the experience? Can you describe precisely the different steps to achieve the experience or the invention?

To demonstrate this property, at first, we put the wood ruler on the table. A part of the ruler overflows of the table. Then, we spread out the newspaper on top the ruler. And we just have to hit the ruler near the junction of the table. And after the ruler being hit enough, it broke very simply.

4.      What are the various difficulties met to achieve the experiment?

The first time, it was difficult to position the newspaper properly. We also had to get a wood board not too thick. To breaking the ruler, we have to hit it strongly, because otherwise, the ruler sprang only.

5.      In which fields can we use this experiment? (Industry, medical field, sports fields, environment, everyday life. . .).

We can use this experience in aeronautic because it proves the air has a weight, and so strength, it can veer a plane. That can have a veritable financial cost, for example by the fuel use by plane. With the air pressure, the meteorologist could forecast the weather. In sports field, it’s impossible to do a great race without knowing and taking into consideration the air, and so the wind. For the industry too, it’s possible to lift large masses very easily by the compressed air.

6.      Explain the reasons why you chose this experiment and why it appealed to you?

We have chosen this experiment video because we find it’s very amazing to break a plank thanks to this experiment. It is also fun and captivating, for the children. Nevertheless, this experiment requires adult supervision with safety conditions, because the wood splinter may be dangerous.