- 5/11/2025
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Science Max brings you a special compilation including some of our favourite episodes from season 1. Tune in and prepare for a heap of science madness!
Have you ever done a science experiment and wondered âWhat would this be like if it were HUGE?â Welcome to Science Max, the exciting new series that turbocharges all the science experiments youâve done at home.
In season 1, join Phil as he builds rocket cars, uses elastic energy to hurl pumpkins on a giant catapult, builds a bridge out of pasta that can hold a human, find magnets powerful enough to float Phil off the ground, and many more experiments taken to the MAX!
Science Max brings you a special compilation including some of our favourite episodes from season 1. Tune in and prepare for a heap of science madness!
Have you ever done a science experiment and wondered âWhat would this be like if it were HUGE?â Welcome to Science Max, the exciting new series that turbocharges all the science experiments youâve done at home.
In season 1, join Phil as he builds rocket cars, uses elastic energy to hurl pumpkins on a giant catapult, builds a bridge out of pasta that can hold a human, find magnets powerful enough to float Phil off the ground, and many more experiments taken to the MAX!
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FunTranscript
00:01Have you ever done a science experiment
00:03and wondered what it'd be like if you did it big?
00:06I have.
00:19My name is Phil, and I take your everyday science experiments
00:23and do them big.
00:24This is Science Max.
00:26Experiments at Mars!
00:28Science Max!
00:34This episode of Science Max is all about liquids.
00:37What makes something float or not float?
00:41Oh, no! My loonies!
00:43Liquid density and super absorbent gel.
00:47Who wants to do an experiment with diapers?
00:49Liquids.
00:50Today on Science Max, experiments at large.
00:54Hey, welcome to Science Max, experiments at large.
01:00I'm Phil McCordick, and hold on a second, I'm just going to change.
01:03Okay, that's better. Now, where were we?
01:09Alright, let's go make a boat.
01:12So you know that some things float and some things sink.
01:16Like rocks, or wood, or full water bottles and empty water bottles, or carrots, foam, waffles, screwdriver, playing cards, plasticine, tin foil, potato, my watch.
01:33Wait, that wasn't supposed to go in there.
01:38So how do you make a boat?
01:43You make it out of something that floats, right?
01:45Well, most boats are actually made out of metal.
01:47Tin foil is metal, and it sinks.
01:50But if you fold tin foil into a boat shape, it floats.
01:54And boats don't only float themselves, but they can hold people and cargo.
01:58In fact, there's container ships crossing the ocean at this very moment that are holding thousands of tons of cargo,
02:04and they're all made of metal, which doesn't float, it sinks.
02:08So how do boats do it? Are they magic?
02:11No, of course not. Boats are science.
02:13And here, you can be Science Maximites.
02:16Get some tin foil and cut it into the same size pieces, and fold a couple different shapes of boats,
02:21and see which one can hold the most weight before sinking.
02:27And now it's time to max it out.
02:30But before we do, here's how you can fold your own tin foil boat in less than 15 seconds.
02:35First, take a square piece of tin foil, then fold it in half.
02:40Fold one corner down, and the other corner down,
02:45then open it up, and ta-da! You're done!
02:49If you want instructions on how to fold a more complicated boat, go to our website.
02:54I have a feeling I'm going to need a few extra lab coats for this experiment.
03:00Like I was saying, let's max out the tin foil boat and find out a little bit more about why boats float.
03:06Go, let's go.
03:07Go, let's go!
03:08Go, let's go!
03:11Go, let's go!
03:13Go, let's go!
03:14Okay, well I'm here!
03:15For an indoor pool!
03:16Fire!
03:17Oh!
03:18Oh!
03:19Oh!
03:20Oh!
03:21Oh!
03:22Oh!
03:23Oh!
03:24Oh!
03:25Oh!
03:26Oh!
03:27Oh!
03:28Oh!
03:29Oh!
03:30Okay!
03:31Well, I'm here!
03:32An indoor pool!
03:33Um, which is not, uh, I wasn't expecting to be in the pool just yet, but this is where
03:39we're gonna build our giant tinfoil boat, so why not?
03:42Ah!
03:43Oh, Phil, you're wet!
03:46I, yeah, I thought I was gonna come in over there, but I, I came in on the water sled.
03:51I think I had the coordinates wrong.
03:53Anyway, this is Hoosnia, and she's from Let's Talk Science, which is all about science education,
03:57right?
03:58Yes.
03:59Just like us.
04:00So you're gonna help me max out the tinfoil boat.
04:05I think I dropped it in the water.
04:07Hold on.
04:08Whoa!
04:09Whoa!
04:10Ah!
04:11Ah!
04:12Ah!
04:13Ah!
04:14Ah!
04:15Ah!
04:16Ah!
04:17Ah!
04:18Ah!
04:19Ah!
04:20Ah!
04:21Ah!
04:22Ah!
04:23Ah!
04:24Ah!
04:25Ah!
04:26The tinfoil boat!
04:27Phil, this is a boat?
04:28Well, it looked a lot better before I came down the water slide, but that's the idea,
04:31and then we make it bigger.
04:32What do you think?
04:33Ah, I don't think it's gonna work, Phil.
04:35Well, why not?
04:36Tinfoil is very thin.
04:37Uh-huh.
04:38And it might not hold the shape of the boat.
04:40Well, I still think we should use tinfoil, though.
04:43Why?
04:44Well, because the small experiment was tinfoil, and I bought all of this tinfoil.
04:50Then let's do it!
04:51Tinfoil?
04:52Okay, high five!
04:53I will, um, I'll take the tinfoil, and you take that, and, um, I'm gonna have to dry off at
04:58some point.
05:02Welcome to Shipbuilding for Pirates!
05:04I'm Swabby, and I've built some of the finest pirate ships for some of the finest pirates
05:09this side of the Caribbean, and I can teach you to do the same.
05:12But first, you need to know your basics.
05:15Mass and volume.
05:17Let's start with volume!
05:19Ha!
05:20But not that kind of volume.
05:21Which of these two chests do you think has more volume?
05:26Right, this one here.
05:28Which of these two balloons do you think has more volume?
05:33Right, this one here.
05:35Volume is how much space something takes up.
05:39Which of these two chests has more volume?
05:42Hmm?
05:43That's right, they're the same.
05:45But, which of these two chests has more mass?
05:48Which is heavier?
05:49Hmm, hard to tell, isn't it?
05:51But, what if I told you that this one was empty, and this one was full of treasure?
05:56Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho!
05:58Loonies!
05:59Now, which one has more mass?
06:03Hmm?
06:04That's right, this one.
06:09These two chests have the same volume, but this one has more mass.
06:16This chest has more volume than that one, but this one...
06:21My loonies!
06:23That chest does not have as much mass.
06:26Volume is how much space something takes up, and mass is how heavy something is.
06:32And when you look at them both together, you're looking at density.
06:35Join us next time on Shipbuilding for Pirates, and then we'll look at how volume, mass, and density work together to make something float.
06:47Oh, my precious, precious loonies.
06:49Are you alright, my pretties?
06:51They can't talk, so I'm not sure what they're saying.
06:54So, Poosni and I get to work constructing a large tinfoil boat.
06:59Our first design is just sort of a square, folded together out of a very large sheet of tinfoil.
07:05Simple, but can I ride in it?
07:08Ha ha ha ha!
07:10There we go!
07:11A giant tinfoil, folks!
07:14Just my size!
07:15Woo hoo hoo hoo!
07:17I don't know if it's going to work.
07:19It's too thin.
07:20You think it's too thin?
07:21I feel like this.
07:22Well, what should we do?
07:24Do you want to test it?
07:25Let's test it, okay.
07:26Good idea.
07:27So, here's the most important question.
07:30Do you want to test it, or should I test it?
07:32No, no, no.
07:33You test it.
07:34Alright, here we go.
07:35Putting it in.
07:36First test.
07:37Does it float on its own?
07:39Yeah!
07:40Floats on its own.
07:41No problem.
07:42If I just get in very carefully, then it will work fine.
07:45See, if I'm careful about how I get in...
07:49No, it's fine.
07:50See, if I just get in like that...
07:52Oh!
07:53Phil, Phil, are you okay?
07:55Wait a minute.
07:56Wait a minute.
07:57Wait a minute.
07:58It's sort of...
07:59It's sort of...
08:00No, that's just air.
08:01You know what went wrong?
08:02It wasn't boat shaped.
08:04I think if we make it look more like a canoe, because canoes float, if we make it look like
08:09a canoe, it'll work great.
08:10No, no, no, no, Phil.
08:12We need some support.
08:13If we add a couple of structures in between, then we add support to it.
08:18I'll tell you what.
08:19Let's make a boat like I want to make, and a boat like you want to make, and we'll see
08:23whose is the best.
08:24That's a good idea.
08:25Okay, let's do that.
08:26Alright, let's do it.
08:27Welcome back to Shipbuilding for Pirates.
08:31I'm Swobby, and now we know what volume means, what mass means, and that together it can
08:38tell you something's density.
08:40Now let's find out why things float.
08:43Let's...
08:44Let's say we're out to sea, and my treasure chest gets swept overboard.
08:48Oh no!
08:49But it's alright.
08:50It floats, because it pushes enough water out of the way, displaces it to carry its mass.
08:57But what if my treasure chest had more treasure in it?
09:01Well, we're giving it more mass, but not more volume.
09:06Too much mass, and not enough volume, and it will sink.
09:10Oh no!
09:11My loonies!
09:12You need more volume if you want to float more mass.
09:22And that is why things float.
09:24I'm Swobby, and thanks for joining me on Shipbuilding for Pirates.
09:30So, the first version of the tinfoil boat didn't work out too well.
09:36But my idea is to build a tinfoil boat more like a canoe, to see if a different shape makes
09:41any difference.
09:43Tinfoil canoe!
09:45Very Canadian.
09:46Very Canadian.
09:47The canoe part, anyway.
09:48I don't know about the tinfoil part.
09:49So, Husni and I had a bit of a disagreement on why the last boat didn't work.
09:53I thought it was because it wasn't shaped enough like a boat, so this one looks like a canoe.
09:58What I thought is that it requires some structure.
10:01Structure so that it wouldn't fold together.
10:02That's right.
10:03And we'll see how it goes.
10:04All right.
10:05All right.
10:06Here we go.
10:07Did it work?
10:08Nope.
10:09Okay.
10:10Your idea next.
10:14Did you know it's easier to float in salt water, like in the ocean, than it is in fresh water, like a lake or a pool?
10:20That's because not all liquids are created equal.
10:36They have different densities.
10:38This is fresh water, or it doesn't have anything in it.
10:41And this is sugar.
10:43If I was to put one scoop of sugar in this water and stir it around until it dissolves,
10:49now this liquid is more dense than before I put the sugar in.
10:54Here's an experiment you can do at home using liquid density.
10:58This glass just has regular water with yellow food coloring in it.
11:02This glass, green food coloring, and half a cup of sugar in it.
11:06This one has a full cup of sugar in it, and this one has two cups of sugar in it.
11:13Now, when you do this at home, you'll definitely want an adult to help you,
11:16because you have to heat the water if you want to dissolve that much sugar in one glass of water.
11:21I'm going to put them all in one container.
11:24You can do this at home, and when you do, I suggest you use a very small container,
11:27because you have to be very careful when you put the layers in.
11:30You can use a turkey baster or a straw.
11:33When you put your finger on top, the air pressure will hold the liquid in,
11:36and you can just drop it in.
11:38But these kind of take some time, so I'm going to use the syringe of science.
11:42I'm going to use the most dense liquid first, because that's the one that's going to want to be on the bottom.
11:48I carefully put it on the bottom of the container.
11:53The next layer, be very careful, and you'll see that the red and the blue aren't mixing,
12:01because they have different densities.
12:03The blue is heavier than the red.
12:06We'll add the green.
12:09And you can see, even when it drips into the red, it comes back up to the top,
12:14because the green liquid isn't as dense as the red liquid.
12:17And the denser liquids push the lighter liquid up.
12:21And now we're going to add the yellow, which of course has no sugar in it at all.
12:27And there you go.
12:30All the layers stay separate.
12:32If you put it on a light, you can really see it.
12:35Liquid densities.
12:37Now, let's max it out.
12:39Ta-da!
12:40The longest length of liquid layers.
12:4312 liquids all organized by density.
12:46Starting from the bottom, we have honey, corn syrup, chocolate syrup, maple syrup,
12:53dish soap, whole milk, water, dyed blue, vegetable oil, extra virgin olive oil,
13:01rubbing alcohol, baby oil, and lamp oil.
13:05Liquid density.
13:07I really, really want to mix it up, but it took me a long time to make this,
13:11so I'm not going to.
13:13Our first two attempts at a tinfoil boat haven't gone so well.
13:17Husnia's idea is to make a tinfoil boat and add some more structure,
13:22because the tinfoil just wants to collapse when I get in it.
13:25So, we start with a large piece of cardboard on the bottom,
13:29then we wrap the tinfoil around it and shape it into a boat.
13:33After that, we add some supports across the top to stop it from folding in
13:37when we add my weight to it.
13:39This boat feels a lot stronger than the one I was just in.
13:43I told you.
13:44So, how does all of this work?
13:45So, we got some support using broomsticks, and then some cardboard paper,
13:50and then underneath, we have cardboard.
13:53Cardboard.
13:54And so, how will all of this help the boat not sink with me in it?
13:57Right.
13:58The broomsticks will prevent it from folding this way, and you won't sink.
14:01Good.
14:02The cardboard will prevent it from folding this way, and you won't sink again.
14:05Not sinking is my favourite thing to do in the tinfoil boat.
14:09Alright, so let's try it.
14:10Let's do it.
14:11Okay.
14:14Are you going to get in this one?
14:15I'll tell you what, Phil.
14:16If you get in and you don't sink, I'll go after you.
14:20Deal.
14:21Alright.
14:22Alright, here we go.
14:23Let's go.
14:24Let's go.
14:25Let's go.
14:26Let's go.
14:27Let's go.
14:28Huh?
14:29Huh?
14:30Huh?
14:31Huh?
14:32Huh?
14:33It's sort of working!
14:35Oh, no.
14:36Oh, no.
14:37Water's coming in.
14:38It's sort of working.
14:39It's almost working.
14:41It's coming in.
14:42Huh?
14:43Uh-oh.
14:44Wow.
14:45Oh, no.
14:46No.
14:47No.
14:48No, no, no.
14:49No!
14:50No!
14:51No!
14:52No!
14:53Hold on, no one.
14:56One, two, three, go!
14:59Another thing I learned is that a very light tinfoil boat can be very heavy when it's full
15:06of water.
15:07I don't know if fixing it is in the cards.
15:09I think we're going to have to build another boat.
15:11Mm-hmm.
15:13So what do you think we should do?
15:14Let's add more structure.
15:15More structure?
15:16Oh, yeah.
15:17What if we add, like, a metal rod around the outside and maybe some more metal rods and
15:24ribs?
15:25And we wrap it all in tinfoil and you think it'll work?
15:27Let's give it a try.
15:28Let's give it a try.
15:29Don't worry about it.
15:30I've got this.
15:31No, I'll get it.
15:32I'll get it.
15:33Are you sure?
15:34I got it.
15:35Oh, my God.
15:36Oh, my God.
15:37Oh, my God.
15:38Oh, my God.
15:39Oh, my God.
15:44Who wants to do an experiment with diapers?
15:49Oh, oh, oh.
15:50No, no.
15:51I'm serious.
15:52You may have a little brother or sister at home, which means you probably know where you
15:55can find some diapers, but there are two things you need to remember.
15:58First, ask an adult if you can use the diapers for your experiment.
16:02And two, only use unused diapers.
16:06Okay?
16:07Okay.
16:08So you take the diaper, and if you cut it, be very careful, maybe get an adult to help
16:13you, over some black construction paper like I have here.
16:17And you shake the diaper over the construction paper, you'll see that there's a little powder
16:21that comes out.
16:22And this is the secret ingredient.
16:24This is super absorbent gel.
16:26What it does is it soaks up all the liquid, and diapers are full of them.
16:32And you carefully pour it into a plastic cup like that.
16:37Now you can see I have already done it with a number of diapers.
16:41It's important to use a plastic cup because it's a little messy, although it's non-toxic.
16:45It's totally safe, but it's still easier to clean up by just throwing the cup away.
16:50Now add some water.
16:52And what happens is this super absorbent gel absorbs the water and turns very quickly into
17:00a paste.
17:01Look at that.
17:04Now let's max it out.
17:06Five kilograms of super absorbent gel, 500 liters of water, now it is time to do science!
17:14And I have my own stir stick!
17:26Yep, definitely coming along.
17:33I'm not exactly sure if we're getting anything on this camera.
17:45But I want to make sure it's recording.
17:47Yep, it's recording.
17:48There we go.
17:52It is definitely turning solid.
17:59Well there you go.
18:00The giant super absorbent gel experiment.
18:07Corey, Trevor, I need some help getting out.
18:13How many outfits have I been through in this episode?
18:24How many outfits have I been through in this episode?
18:26Anybody have a towel?
18:28There you go.
18:29Thanks, buddy.
18:30That's great.
18:31No!
18:32No, no, no, no!
18:34Poosnia's idea of adding structure to the tinfoil boat was definitely right.
18:39We just needed to go further.
18:41So we did it again.
18:42This time we made a much larger boat.
18:45We started with a sheet of cardboard, then wrapped the tinfoil around and added some metal supports taped to the cardboard across the boat this way to make ribs.
18:55As well as some other supporting pieces in the front and the back.
18:59Then another metal rod all the way around the top and finally supports across the middle.
19:08Alright, feel how strong it is.
19:10I'm really excited about this version of the tinfoil boat.
19:13What we did is we used thwarts, big hard pieces of wood that we did last time, but this time we have ribs.
19:19Ribs, right, which are made of a cardboard, a metal rod attached to it, and...
19:24And shaped and we did a whole bunch of them in the whole length of the boat.
19:28And then we used all of this bendable metal and we have one that runs all the way around the gunnels and a whole bunch that run down the inside.
19:37And we even used bike fenders at the front and the back of the boat to give it super rigidity so that it hopefully won't go like all the other boats have done so far.
19:46Are you ready, Husnia?
19:47Let's do this.
19:48One, two, three, lift.
19:50Alright.
19:51Let me get over.
19:57It floats, but that doesn't tell us anything because they've all floated at this point.
20:02It's only when I...
20:04I get into it.
20:05Here we go.
20:06Alright.
20:17Hey!
20:19Hey, it works!
20:22Whoa.
20:23Alright.
20:24Oh, it's working!
20:26Look at that.
20:27It works perfectly.
20:28The tinfoil boat experiment has been done.
20:33Science Max.
20:34Experiments at large.
20:35What do you think, Husnia?
20:36The only reason I got into this boat is because I knew it's going to work.
20:39Really?
20:40Oh, yeah.
20:41So you knew you would never get wet.
20:42See, I don't think that's fair.
20:44I think it's time that you got wet.
20:46What are you doing?
20:47I think we should go...
20:48I think you and I should just get wet right now.
20:50Someone help!
20:51Whoa!
20:52Whoa!
20:53Whoa!
20:54You're still dry, aren't you?
20:55Okay.
20:56That is so unfair.
20:57Science Max is a show where we take small experiments and do them big.
21:00If you want to try these experiments yourself, go to our website for instructions.
21:01But not all the experiments on Science Max are the kind you should try at home.
21:02This one, yes.
21:03This, no.
21:04Try this.
21:05Don't try this.
21:06A big yes.
21:07A big no.
21:08I...
21:09I don't know how you could possibly do this one at home.
21:10And remember, if you're ever not sure, ask an adult.
21:15The one thing I'm really trying not to think about is that this is the stuff that's in diapers.
21:44Let me talk to your brother.
21:47Whoa!
21:48Whoa!
21:49Whoa!
21:50Don't talk with your mouth full.
22:03Have you ever done a science experiment and wondered what it'd be like if you did it big?
22:08I have.
22:14Yeah!
22:15My name is Phil, and I take your everyday science experiments and do them big.
22:26This is Science Max.
22:28Experiments at large!
22:30Science Max!
22:33It's time to get stuck on magnets.
22:36What's our attraction to magnets?
22:38What's their attraction to each other?
22:40And can I use magnets to levitate and float in the air?
22:44All on this episode of Science Max Experiments at Large.
22:48Greetings, Science Maximites, and welcome to Science Max Experiments at Large.
22:54My name is Phil, and today we're going to be looking at the power of mag... magnets.
23:03You see, magnets are fun things to experiment with because they are really interesting.
23:15This magnet that I've got here is a neodymium magnet or a rare earth magnet.
23:20It's one of the strongest magnets you can get.
23:27A magnet is an object that is attracted to anything that is ferromagnetic, which is iron, nickel, or cobalt.
23:40And magnets are interesting because they have two sides.
23:45There are two...
23:46Uh...
23:47Oh...
23:48There are two poles...
23:49I'd show you, but I can't...
23:50Look at the chain...
23:51Oh...
23:52Hold on one second.
23:58Ha-ha!
24:01There are two...
24:05Oh, no.
24:10There are two poles to every magnet, just like the earth.
24:15There is a north pole and a south pole.
24:18That's right.
24:19The earth is a giant magnet.
24:20So, if you take kitchen magnets, you'll find that there's two different poles.
24:26I've written north and south on these ones.
24:28They don't normally come like that.
24:29If you put the north and the south together, they stick.
24:32But if you put the north and north or south and south together, they repel.
24:36They repel.
24:37See, they don't want to go together at all.
24:38And you can force them together if you want.
24:41But if you do, they will spring away the second you let them go.
24:44Wee!
24:45Ha-ha!
24:46But, when magnets repel each other, I find that some of the most interesting stuff.
24:51Check this out.
24:52This is just a small container, and I've got a magnet in here.
24:55And I have a loonie attached to it, so that it fits nicely in the container like that.
25:03For the top, I've attached two magnets together, and I have another coin on it.
25:07And if you put them in there, I've made sure that the two poles repel each other, which means this magnet will just sit there and float.
25:16Magnetic levitation!
25:18Very interesting.
25:19And you can pop the top on that if you want, and just carry around a levitating magnet.
25:24Now, there's a couple fancier ways you can levitate stuff with magnets.
25:28This is just a wooden frame I've made.
25:31This is completely not necessary.
25:33You can use just about anything in your house.
25:35A desk lamp works really well.
25:36The important part is I've tied a magnet to the end of this arm here.
25:40And this is a bolt, which is attracted to the magnet, but it's got a thread tied to it, so it can't get there.
25:48Just far enough that it will actually hang in mid-air.
25:54Look at that.
25:55It's not attached to anything.
25:57It's just being pulled up by the attraction from the magnet.
26:00The thing is, as soon as you pull the bolt away far enough, it will lose the attraction, and it'll just fall.
26:08Very cool.
26:09Here's one that's a little bit more complicated, but is also really neat.
26:15This one uses disc magnets, which have a circle or a hole in the middle of them here.
26:20And you put two around a pencil, and then four more in such a position that you can put the pencil against this wood on the side,
26:29and it will just levitate on its own.
26:34You can even give it a spin.
26:36Look at that.
26:37And if you want to make the levitating pencil yourself, there's step-by-step instructions on how to build an easy-peasy version on our website.
26:46Meantime, we are going to max this out.
26:49Magnetic levitation on ScienceMax experiments at large.
26:53But you're probably thinking, what are we going to levitate?
26:56Well, we're going to levitate me.
26:59At least, that's the plan.
27:01That's why I'm going to the center for skills development and training.
27:05Come on.
27:06Okay, who turned out the lights?
27:19How?
27:20What was that?
27:21Why is this room so small?
27:24And only going down to waste level.
27:27This is the weirdest room I've ever been in.
27:30Where am I?
27:31What's going on?
27:38Hey, Matt.
27:39Hi, Phil.
27:40This is Matt.
27:41He's from Job Master Magnets.
27:42Now, you guys use lots of big magnets, right?
27:44That's right, we do.
27:45Awesome.
27:46So, maybe you could help me max out this.
27:48Wow.
27:49You did a great job of building the levitating pencil experiment.
27:51Yeah.
27:52So, what's going on here, exactly?
27:53Well, all magnets have at least a north and a south pole.
27:55Right.
27:56And when you put light poles together, they want to repel.
27:59Oh, okay.
28:00So, have you ever levitated a person?
28:02Not yet.
28:03Well, let's do it.
28:04All right.
28:05Do you think we can use these?
28:06We can try.
28:07Okay, well, put that one on the ground.
28:08And, okay, so north.
28:09And I'll put the north one on my foot here.
28:12And then, if I just step...
28:14Wait a minute.
28:15If I step...
28:16Stop moving.
28:17If I step on the...
28:18Step on the...
28:19Okay.
28:20Well, first of all, this magnet keeps sort of moving away from me
28:23when I try to push down on it.
28:25Uh, what do we do?
28:26How do we fix this?
28:27Well, we need to keep the magnets in position so that they don't move around when you try
28:30to bring them together.
28:31Yeah, because I have to come straight down on it, don't I?
28:33That's right.
28:34So, why don't we attach this one to the floor?
28:36Good idea.
28:37And then we'll put a board on this one and we'll see how it goes.
28:39Perfect.
28:40Okay, let's do it.
28:41All right.
28:42Let's do it.
28:43This is a magnet.
28:44This is a magnet.
28:45This is a magnet.
28:46This is a magnet.
28:47This is a magnet.
28:48This is a magnet.
28:49This is a shoe.
28:50What's the difference?
28:51To know that, you have to know your magnets.
28:52This is a donut.
28:53It does not stick to this magnet.
28:55This is a donor.
28:56This is a donut.
28:57It does not stick to this magnet.
29:02This is a spoon.
29:04It sticks to this magnet.
29:07These paper clips stick to this magnet.
29:09This shoe does not.
29:21So what is attracted to magnets?
29:23Only things that are ferromagnetic.
29:26Here's the difference.
29:27Horseshoe, horseshoe magnet.
29:30This one is a magnet.
29:33This one is not.
29:38But the horseshoe sticks to the horseshoe magnet
29:43because this one's a magnet and this one is ferromagnetic.
29:48Only things that are ferromagnetic are attracted to magnets.
29:52Things that are not attracted to magnets, they're not ferromagnetic.
29:57Plastic, banana, mitten, sandwich, magazine.
30:02No, but how do you know?
30:04Do you go around the world sticking a magnet to every single thing one at a time?
30:08Hey Ma, I need you to come over.
30:10I need to see if you're ferromagnetic.
30:13No, ferromagnetic.
30:15No, you don't need to do that.
30:17First of all, only metals are ferromagnetic.
30:20So that eliminates all your clothing, your luncheon meats, your magazines, what have you.
30:27Everything that's non-metal you don't need to worry about.
30:30Never mind Ma, it doesn't matter.
30:32But this clock is metal.
30:37It doesn't stick.
30:38Well, not all metals are ferromagnetic.
30:41Mainly just the ones with iron, nickel, or cobalt.
30:45And there you have it.
30:47Now you know your magnets.
30:49I hit the phone on the magnet there.
30:51Can you hear me Ma?
30:53Hang up the phone.
30:55Hang up.
30:57Hang up the phone Ma.
30:59Hang up.
31:00Hang up.
31:01Hang up.
31:02My first attempt at levitating had the magnets sliding all over.
31:05So the plan is to take the bottom magnet and attach it to a big wooden board so it won't go anywhere.
31:11Then attach another plank to the top magnet to make it a little easier to stand on.
31:16Okay, that is definitely attached to the floor.
31:22All right, now if I just get this lined up.
31:25Whoa, look at that.
31:28It could totally, oh, wait a minute.
31:30Totally, it doesn't want to stay put.
31:37Wait a minute, they levitate.
31:39Come on, levitate.
31:42Why doesn't it want to stay?
31:44It just doesn't, hmm, should I stand on it?
31:48Okay, I'll stand on it.
31:49Here we go, and ah, ah, am I levitating?
31:56No.
31:56No, hmm, so why isn't this working?
32:00Well, just like your pencil experiment,
32:02we need a shaft through the center
32:03to hold the magnets in position.
32:05Oh yeah, maybe we could use like a ring magnet.
32:07Yes.
32:08Like we used with the pencil.
32:09Right, and?
32:10And we're gonna need stronger magnets.
32:12We're gonna need stronger magnets.
32:13Are the ring magnets strong?
32:14Yes, they can be.
32:15Awesome, all right, let's do it.
32:17All right.
32:18Now it's time for a Science Max quiz.
32:20Which one of these things
32:22do we have magnetism to thank for?
32:25Birds flying south in the winter, music, or a sandwich?
32:31If you picked A, you're right.
32:34Some birds migrate in the spring and fall using the Earth's magnetic field.
32:40Many animals can sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it to navigate.
32:45Migrating birds fly hundreds or thousands of kilometers north or south when they migrate
32:52in the spring and fall.
32:55A compass works the same way, by using magnetism to point to the Earth's magnetic north pole.
33:01But if you picked B, music, you're right.
33:05Here's some music.
33:07The way you're hearing this music is because the musicians recorded their instruments using
33:12microphones, which use magnets.
33:16And then the signal was translated by a computer and stored on its hard drive, which uses magnets.
33:23Then it was broadcast to your TV and comes out your speakers, which use, you guessed it, magnets.
33:32And for those of you who said you have magnetism to thank for your sandwich,
33:37well, you're right.
33:39You see, you'd probably go to the kitchen to make that sandwich, right?
33:45Well, I'm guessing you got all of the tasty ingredients from your refrigerator?
33:50Well, it works on electricity, which is produced by magnets.
33:55And then there's an electric motor in the fridge that circulates the air and keeps it cool.
34:00Guess what?
34:01Magnets.
34:02And finally, the door on your fridge stays closed because the door has magnets.
34:09So there you go.
34:11You can thank magnetism for birds flying south, music, and your sandwich.
34:16It just goes to show, when you're talking about magnets, everybody wins because magnets are everywhere.
34:24This has been a Science Max Quiz.
34:34Here's an experiment you can do with a bag of water.
34:38Take a sharpened pencil and carefully push it through the bag.
34:44If you do it carefully, it won't spill.
34:47The reason this works is because the bag is made of polymers, long, stretchy chains of molecules,
34:52and also because the pressure of the water against the pencil prevents any water from spilling out.
35:00Now, we're going to max it out.
35:02This is a very large bag of water, and here I have some very large pencils.
35:09You ready?
35:10Oh.
35:11Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, that's one.
35:22That's two.
35:27Here we go.
35:30Should I go from the bottom?
35:34Ta-da!
35:35Science!
35:36Okay, okay, okay.
35:37I know what you want.
35:52Like I was saying, science!
36:01Turns out trying to balance two repelling magnets on top of each other is pretty much impossible.
36:06Here's why.
36:07This is a magnet, and here is the magnetic field.
36:11It's often drawn with lines like this, but actually the magnetic field radiates out in all directions.
36:18Really, think of the magnetic field kind of like a ball.
36:22When you try to balance another magnet on top of the first magnet, it's about as hard
36:27as balancing one ball on top of another ball.
36:30So here's the plan.
36:32Just like the levitating pencil, we're going to use ring magnets because we can put a shaft
36:37through the center of one ring, then drop another ring magnet on the shaft.
36:41It will keep them perfectly aligned.
36:44Then it's just a matter of putting the bottom magnet on a board to keep it stable, and using
36:48another board so I can stand on it, and ta-da, magnetic levitation!
36:53Or at least, that's the plan.
36:56Okay.
36:57Board.
36:58Magnets.
36:59Magnets.
37:00Ooh, look at that.
37:03Awesome.
37:04And now, I'm going to put the platform on.
37:07Nice!
37:08I've got some weights here.
37:10Let's see how this works.
37:12Yeah!
37:13This is going to work amazing.
37:15Alright, think I should try it?
37:16Give it a try.
37:17Okay.
37:18Here we go.
37:20Huh?
37:21Huh?
37:22Yeah!
37:23I'm doing it!
37:24I'm levitating!
37:25What?
37:26Just a little bit.
37:27Oh, really?
37:28Yeah.
37:29So, hmm.
37:30Yeah, what do we do?
37:31We need more power.
37:32More power?
37:33I like that idea.
37:34How do we give it more power?
37:35More shafts?
37:36More magnets.
37:37Okay, sure.
37:38Why don't we do one, two, three, four shafts, and then we'll have magnets on all the shafts.
37:43Great idea.
37:44Alright.
37:45Alright.
37:46Let's do it.
37:47Mini Max.
37:48Mini Max.
37:49Mini Max.
37:50If you attach something ferromagnetic, like this washer, to a magnet, not only does it stick,
38:05but the magnetic field travels down the metal, making it a magnet too.
38:10Which means you can stick more and more things to each other, and they will continue to stick
38:18to each other as long as the magnetic field is strong enough.
38:35You can see it's getting pretty weak here, and they'll all stay magnetized as long as
38:40the first one is still attached to the magnet.
38:45But, if you want to go even further, all you need to do is keep adding more magnets to reinforce
38:52the magnetic field.
38:53I've got a few here, like this, get the chain started, like that, and then I've got a magnet
39:03attached to this washer, so it will keep the magnetic field strong, and I continue to
39:09add one magnet, one washer, and we'll just see how far I can go.
39:14You can even sculpt it a little bit.
39:23Look at that.
39:24And then at the end, a whole bunch of paper clips.
39:28Eventually, the weight will make it fall off, but it's a lot of fun to play with magnets
39:33and make art.
39:34Speaking of art you can make with magnets, you can also make sculptures.
39:38When everything sticks to everything else, you can make some pretty fancy designs.
39:42This is a rare earth magnet, a very strong one, and a bunch of nuts that I've gotten.
39:47And this one here is an electromagnet.
39:50But electromagnets are a little different because they need an electric current to work.
39:56Check this out.
39:57This is sort of a magnet dude with crazy hair.
40:01There's an earth magnet here, and this is a giant screw, and these are some metal bits,
40:05and then I've got two more magnets at the top here to hold on his crazy wire hair.
40:10He's got crazy wire hair because he's crazy magnitude.
40:13Now, of course, we couldn't just talk about magnetic sculptures without maxing it out, so let's max it out.
40:20This is a bunch of scrap metal from leftover experiments, and I've got a bunch of rare earth magnets,
40:26and now I'm going to max out a magnet sculpture.
40:29Let's see.
40:30There you go, a maxed out magnet, me!
40:44I made this guy out of metal pipes with earth magnets in between, and these are his arms attached, of course, with magnets,
40:51his hand, his little metal pieces attached with magnets, steel wool for the hair, and, of course, hat, non-magnetic.
40:59All right, here we go, ready?
41:08Want to see a magic trick?
41:09Simple copper tube.
41:11Drop things through it.
41:16Nothing unusual happens, but watch when I drop a magnet through.
41:22What?
41:24It's not magic, it's science.
41:27Because the magnet creates a magnetic field when it goes through the tube, the magnetic field repels the magnet upwards.
41:35Now, the field isn't perfect, so the magnet doesn't come to a stop, but still, it slows down from a fall to a nice, graceful drop.
41:42Take a look from above.
41:44Pretty amazing, right?
41:50Magnets.
41:51Not magic.
41:52Science.
41:53So I've managed to levitate on some magnets, but just barely.
42:02What Matt and I needed was more power.
42:05So instead of having one shaft and one pair of ring magnets, we're going to use a larger board and put a shaft on each corner.
42:12Then we'll have four times the power, because we're using four times the magnets.
42:17Hopefully this will be strong enough to get me floating on a cushion of magnetic energy.
42:22And magnets?
42:23Magnets.
42:24Okay, here we go.
42:28This is going to work great.
42:29And top board.
42:31Mm-hmm.
42:34Oh, what do you think?
42:35Looks great.
42:36Yeah.
42:37Okay.
42:38Here we go.
42:40Matt?
42:43You're levitating.
42:44I'm levitating!
42:45Woo-hoo!
42:46All right.
42:47It feels cool.
42:48It's sort of like, it sort of feels like surfing a little bit.
42:51All right.
42:52Thank you so much, Matt.
42:53That was amazing.
42:54And there you have it.
42:56Science Max, experiments at large, magnetic levitation.
42:59You know, I'm surprised we could do an entire episode on magnets, and we never actually got them so close to the camera that the camera went all weird, because Cameron's the magnets, they don't...
43:08Oh, dear.
43:09Uh-oh.
43:10No, that's okay.
43:13I can, I can, I can fix this.
43:15If I just maybe...
43:16No.
43:17Maybe if I put the magnet to the camera again, that would...
43:19Oh, oh.
43:20Okay, that's not...
43:21No.
43:22That didn't help.
43:23Okay, well, thanks very much for watching Science Max, experiments at large, and we'll see you again as soon as we get into the camera.
43:32Today, we're going to be looking at the power of magnets.
43:36Magnets.
43:38Magnets.
43:39Okay.
43:40This one here is called a neodymium magnet, or a rare earth... magnet.
43:45Magnet.
43:46It sticks to this magnet.
43:53Magnet.
43:58Ramona, the fish fell.
44:09You can, you know, and then you can feel...
44:10You can do it anytime soon.
44:12No.
44:13Yeah.
44:14Yeah.
44:15No.
44:16No.
44:17No.
44:18No.
44:19No.
44:20No.
44:21No.
44:22No.
44:23No.
44:24No.
44:26All.
44:27No.
44:28No.
44:29No.
44:30No.
44:34No.
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