Fracture
Impact Mechanics
stress‐concentration

Prompt: A teardrop-shaped piece of tempered glass (Prince Rupert's Drop) is held at its bulbous head. Small pliers gently snip the thin tail end.

The entire drop explosively shatters into powder in a fraction of a second as the release of internal tension propagates through the glass at high speed.


Prompt: A straw wrapper paper tissue is crumpled into an accordion shape on a table. A drop of water is placed near one end of the crumpled paper, touching the paper.

The crumpled wrapper immediately begins expanding and crawling like a worm as water is absorbed through capillary action, causing the paper fibers to swell and straighten.


Buoyancy
Phase Change
Thermal convection

Prompt: An empty tea bag is unfolded into a cylinder, stood upright on a plate, and lit at the top edge with a match. The cylinder burns from top to bottom.

Just as the last bit finishes burning, the remaining ash lifts off and floats upward several feet because it becomes light enough for the hot air current to carry it as a glowing ember.


Prompt: A glass beaker (approximately 10 cm tall) is filled with a loosely coiled metal ball chain (the type with small spherical beads connected by short rods, commonly used for key chains or lamp pulls). The beaker is positioned at the very edge of a table so that its rim is flush with or slightly overhanging the table edge. The chain is coiled in the beaker with no particular order, forming a loose pile that fills most of the beaker's volume. A person grasps one free end of the chain that extends above the pile and drapes it over the rim of the beaker, letting about 10-15 cm hang down toward the floor. The person then releases this hanging end.

Once released, the hanging portion of chain accelerates downward under gravity, pulling more chain from the beaker. However, instead of simply sliding over the rim and falling straight down, the chain exhibits a dramatic and counterintuitive behavior: it rises up out of the beaker in an elegant upward arc or "fountain" that extends 10-20 cm above the rim before curving down toward the floor. The chain continuously flows up and out of the beaker in this graceful parabolic arc, resembling a fountain of metal beads suspended in mid-air. As the chain depletes from the beaker, the fountain remains stable and consistent until nearly all the chain has been pulled out.


Prompt: A sealed plastic bottle is filled with water containing a floating eyedropper with an air bubble inside. A person squeezes the sides of the bottle.

The eyedropper immediately sinks when the bottle is squeezed, then rises again when released, as increased pressure compresses the air bubble, reducing buoyancy.


Prompt: Three strips of different materials (paper towel, cotton cloth, and plastic film) are placed with their bottom edges touching colored water in a shallow dish, standing vertically.

The water climbs up the paper towel fastest, the cotton cloth slower, and barely rises on the plastic, demonstrating different capillary action based on material properties.


Energy Storage & Release
Fracture
stress‐concentration

Prompt: A dry spaghetti stick is held at both ends and slowly bent until it breaks.

The spaghetti breaks into three or more pieces rather than two, because stress waves from the first fracture cause additional breaks before the fragments separate.


Prompt: A small amount of lime juice is squeezed from a lime onto the surface of an inflated rubber balloon.

The acid in the lime juice reacts with the rubber, breaking down its polymer structure. The weakened area loses elasticity, causing the balloon to pop where the juice touches it.


Prompt: Two beakers filled to the brim with deionized water are placed side by side, touching each other. High voltage electrodes are inserted into each beaker, and gradually the beakers are moved apart while voltage is applied.

A bridge of water forms and floats between the two beakers, defying gravity as electrostatic forces hold the water column together.


Combustion
flammability
Equlibrium
Stability
Heat Transfer

Prompt: One wooden match is fixed upright on a flat surface so that it stands vertically. A second match is placed leaning diagonally against it, with their match heads touching at the top. The middle of the tilting match is then ignited.

The tilting match should start “levitating” after the match is lit. The tilted match appears to levitate because rising hot air from the burning matches produces an upward convection current that temporarily supports the lightweight, partially burned match after it detaches.


Prompt: A small amount of water is added to an empty plastic bottle, which is sealed with a cap. A person squeezes and twists the bottom of the bottle several times to increase internal pressure, then the cap is suddenly released.

When the pressure is released, the air inside expands and cools rapidly, causing the water vapor to condense into tiny droplets that form a visible cloud.


Elastic Collision
Energy Transfer
Momentum Conservation
Pendulum

Prompt: Five identical metal balls are suspended in a straight line by thin strings so that they hang just touching each other at rest. One ball on the end is pulled back and released, allowing it to swing and strike the others.

When the lifted ball strikes the row, the ball on the opposite end swings outward while the others remain nearly stationary, demonstrating conservation of momentum and energy.


Prompt: A metal slinky is held vertically by its top end, fully extended and hanging. The top end is suddenly released and the slinky is allowed to fall freely.

The bottom of the slinky remains stationary in mid-air for a moment while the top collapses downward, until the tension release information propagates down and the whole slinky falls together.


Prompt: A small, lightweight copper projectile is placed between two parallel copper rails, and a high current is momentarily discharged through the rails.

The massive current creates an enormous magnetic field that exerts a powerful Lorentz Force on the projectile, propelling it forward at high speed.


Prompt: A tall, narrow wine glass is mounted to a sturdy base. A speaker placed nearby emits a loud pure tone matching the glass's resonant frequency (pre-measured and set).

Within several seconds of loud sound exposure, the glass begins vibrating visibly and suddenly shatters as resonant amplification exceeds the material's strength.


Prompt: A strong neodymium magnet (approximately 2-3 cm in diameter) is mounted horizontally on a rigid stand at a height of about 15 cm above a table surface. A small, thin strip or piece of pure nickel metal (approximately 1 cm x 3 cm, and less than 3 mm thick) is suspended by a thin cotton thread or fishing line from a horizontal support rod. A lit candle is positioned on the table with its flame below the nickel piece.

Initially, the hanging nickel piece is strongly attracted by the magnetic field and pulls toward the magnet, hanging at an angle rather than straight down. The nickel remains suspended in this tilted position, held by magnetic attraction. As the candle flame heats the air below, the nickel piece warms. When the nickel reaches its Curie temperature, it suddenly loses its ferromagnetic properties and becomes paramagnetic (only weakly magnetic). At this moment, the magnetic attraction abruptly disappears, and the nickel drops away from the magnet, swinging downward like a pendulum under gravity alone.


Prompt: A small amount of food coloring is mixed with oil in a cup, then poured slowly into a clear glass filled with water.

The oil remains floating on top of the water, while drops of food coloring fall through the oil layer and spread into the water, creating thin colorful strands.


Fluid Dynamics
Resonance
Sound
Sound Waves
Vibration

Prompt: A flexible transparent tube carrying a steady stream of water is taped to the front of a speaker so that the open end extends outward, and water pours out of the tube. Camera view from 10 feet away, looking towards the speaker. The speaker begins to play a low-frequency sound while water continues to flow from the tube.

As the sound plays, pressure oscillations from the speaker cause the water stream to vibrate at the same frequency, forming visible spirals or standing-wave patterns that seem to move, freeze, or reverse depending on the playback frequency.


Prompt: A playing card is placed on top of a glass, and a coin is balanced on the card directly over the glass opening. The card is flicked horizontally away from the glass with a quick motion.

The coin drops straight down into the glass rather than following the card, demonstrating inertia as the coin tends to remain at rest while the card is removed quickly.


Equlibrium
Stability
Gravity
Heat Transfer

Prompt: Cinematic shot of a Ruben's tube in a dark studio. A 400 Hz sine wave input causes high-pressure antinodes to modulate the methane flames, creating parabolic peaks and low-flame nodal points. The flames oscillate rapidly. 4K, precise flame height rendering.

Visualization of acoustic standing wave pressure profile via flame height variation.


Prompt: An empty aluminum soda can containing a small amount of boiling water is quickly inverted and plunged open-end-down into a bowl of ice water.

The can instantly crumples and collapses with a loud bang as the steam inside rapidly condenses, creating a vacuum, and atmospheric pressure crushes the can.


Prompt: A glass bottle is filled completely with water. The top of the bottle is struck straight down with a hammer.

The sudden impact sends a pressure wave through the water. Because the liquid is nearly incompressible, the force transmits downward and reflects off the bottom, causing the base of the bottle to crack or shatter and water to pour out.


Prompt: Two identical pendulums hang from the same horizontal string or rod. One pendulum is set swinging while the other hangs still.

Within seconds, the moving pendulum begins to slow while the stationary one starts swinging, as energy transfers back and forth through the shared support via resonance.


Prompt: Using tweezers, a thin metal blade is gently placed flat and horizontally on the surface of still water in a glass. The blade is carefully lowered until it just touches the water surface without breaking it and then it is let go.

The blade is expected to float on the water.


Energy Conversion
Sound
Sound Waves
Vibration

Prompt: A bowl is covered tightly with a thin plastic sheet so that the surface is smooth and stretched evenly across the rim. A small handful of uncooked rice grains lies evenly across the plastic surface. A metal gong is then struck once a short distance away from the setup while the bowl remains stationary on a flat table.

The rice and plastic sheet should bounce up and down each time the gong is hit. The sound waves should cause the plastic sheet to vibrate


Prompt: A thin metal razor blade is held vertically with tweezers above a glass of still water. The tweezers then let go of the blade, dropping it edge-first into the still water.

The blade is expected to sink to the bottom of the water.


Prompt: A drop of water is carefully placed onto a metal pan heated to 250°C.

The water drop forms a perfect sphere and glides across the surface without boiling, hovering on a cushion of its own vapor that insulates it from the hot metal.


Friction
Impulse
Inertia
Momentum Conservation

Prompt: An apple has a long, thin wooden pole inserted through its center, with the apple sitting partway up the stick. It is held upright by a person. The person uses a hammer to deliver a few quick tap on the top end of the stick while the stick is kept straight.

The apple is expected to rise higher  on the stick with each hit of the hammer.


Prompt: A metal coin rests flat on a smooth tabletop. Using two fingers, the coin is turned onto its edge and is given a firm spin so that it rotates rapidly on its edge on the table.

The hand should spin the coin and the coin’s rotation should slowly start getting wider and wider due to gravity until it stops.


Resonance
Rotational Dynamics
Sound
Sound Waves
Wave Propagration

Prompt: Two empty plastic bottles are attached to the ends of a horizontal wooden rod using string loops. The bottles are horizontal to the ground. The rod is balanced at its center on a pointed support so it can spin freely. A speaker is placed beneath each bottle and they produce tones at the bottles' resonant frequencies.

When the speakers emit sound at the bottles’ resonant frequency, the air inside them vibrates strongly, creating pressure differences that cause the bottles to rotate around the central support.


Prompt: A metal ring rests horizontally on top of an iron-core electromagnet coil. The coil is suddenly connected to a high-current DC power supply.

The ring rapidly jumps several feet into the air as the suddenly changing magnetic field induces a current in the ring that creates an opposing magnetic field, causing strong repulsion.


Equlibrium Stability Friction Impulse Inertia

Prompt: Three empty soda cans are stacked on top of each other on a table covered with a tablecloth. The tablecloth is pulled rapidly off the table from beneath the cans.

The cans should stay on the table in the same formation while the sheet gets pulled off


Acid-Base Reaction
Precipitation reaction
Protein Denaturation

Prompt: A person pours milk into a bottle of Coca-Cola and lets the bottle rest.

Milk changes colour, precipitates form, fizzing as acid meets proteins.


Prompt: Superheated liquid water that has been heated far above its boiling point is added to a glass pitcher. A metal fork is then carefully inserted into the hot water.

When the fork touches the superheated water, its rough surface and cooler temperature provide nucleation sites, triggering sudden and rapid boiling. Steam and bubbles form explosively throughout the liquid.


Prompt: High-speed camera footage capturing a dense metal sphere impacting a vat of cornstarch (oobleck) at high velocity.

The fluid surface momentarily solidifies upon impact due to shear thickening, generating a large splash of non-liquid fragments. Deceleration of an object due to rapidly increasing apparent viscosity under high shear rate.


Prompt: From a top-down view, a flat metal plate is attached horizontally to a vibration generator. A small amount of table salt is sprinkled evenly across the surface of the plate. The vibration frequency is gradually increased using a signal generator or connected smartphone.

As the frequency changes, the salt grains move and settle into distinct geometric patterns where the plate does not vibrate — the nodal lines of standing waves. Each frequency produces a unique pattern.


Angular Momentum
Gravity
Gyroscopic Precession

Prompt: A metal spinning top is placed at the center of a smooth tabletop. It is set in rapid rotation by hand using a twist of the fingers, with the tip in contact with the surface.

The top should start making larger and larger rotations due to the torque gravity.


Prompt: Two identical tuning forks are mounted upright on separate wooden bases placed side by side on a flat table. A light pendulum made of a small rubber ball suspended by a thin string hangs so that the ball  one prong of the second tuning fork. The first tuning fork is struck gently with a rubber mallet and held near the second one, both facing each other.

The tuning fork that is not hit should vibrate and cause the ball to start moving.


Prompt: A white styrofoam ball (approximately 5-8 cm in diameter) sits in a clear glass dish on a table.  A person holds a bottle of acetone and pours a steady stream directly onto the top of the styrofoam ball.

When acetone is poured onto the styrofoam ball, the ball will rapidly shrink, collapse, and appear to vanish, leaving behind only a small amount of a gooey, viscous substance in the clear glass dish. As the polystyrene dissolves, the large amount of trapped air is released, often visibly as small bubbles or a fizzing effect.


Prompt: Spin a raw egg and a cooked egg on a smooth surface; lightly stop each with a fingertip and then release.

The raw egg starts spinning again due to the fluid interior continuing to move, while the cooked egg remains at rest.


Prompt: Front-on Medium Shot (looking up the incline). On a lab bench, show two straight metal rails forming a V-shape. The wide end of the "V" rests on a small block, making the entire track clearly incline upward from its narrow end. A hand places a wooden double cone (two cones joined at their bases) at the narrow, lowest point of the V-rails. 2. The hand gives the cone a gentle push.

The cone appears to roll uphill while its center of mass actually moves downward along the widening rails.


Prompt: Compare a strong magnet and a steel block sliding down the same aluminum ramp.

The magnet creeps slowly due to eddy-current drag while the steel block slides freely.


Prompt: Place ice cubes and a spoonful of salt in a clear glass of water and observe through the side as the mixture is gently stirred once.


Prompt: Create a warm air plume from a candle beside a cool background and pass a laser pointer’s beam just above the flame.

The beam shimmers and bends due to temperature-dependent index variations that act like moving lenses in the air.


Gravity
Hooke’s law
Simple harmonic motion

Prompt: Mount a mass from one vertical spring and compare its oscillation to the same mass hung from two Identical springs connected end-to-end

The series-spring system oscillates with a noticeably longer period because the effective spring constant is reduced.


Prompt: Drive a taut string with a small motor at a fixed frequency and slide a movable support to change the effective length.

The pattern suddenly jumps from one mode shape to another as the length tunes through resonance conditions set by tension and elasticity.


Prompt: Send a thin laser sheet into the edge of a clear acrylic block and adjust entry angle along the long face.

The beam becomes trapped by total internal reflection and forms bright nodes along the path where partial scattering interferes.


Prompt: 1. A smartphone on a table displays a solid white screen. 2. A hand holds a linear polarizer sheet just above the screen, showing both the screen and a glossy reflection of an overhead lamp on the sheet's surface. 3. The hand slowly rotates the polarizer.

The screen brightness and the reflected glare extinguish at different angles because emitted polarization and reflected polarization do not match.


Prompt: Wrap the outside of a paper cup with aluminum foil connected to ground and place a small electroscope leaf inside the cup opening.

External charged objects brought near the cup produce little response inside, showing field shielding by the conductor.


Prompt: Static close-up looking through two crossed polarizers (field is dark) on a light table. 1. A clear plastic fork is placed between the polarizers. 2. The fork is rotated slowly.

Colorful stress fringes appear and change with rotation as polarization components shift.


Prompt: Spin a turntable with two sliding masses near the rim and move the masses inward along radial tracks.

The rotation speeds up and the platform resists external twists because the moment of inertia decreases while angular momentum stays constant.


Prompt: Arrange two linear polarizers orthogonal to each other and shine a small laser spot through them, then insert a piece of transparent tape between the sheets.

The dark field brightens where the tape sits because the film rotates polarization and creates constructive transmission patterns.


Prompt: Chill a metal spoon, breathe onto the surface, and hold it under a bright lamp.

Condensation forms then clears as the film evaporates, restoring a sharp reflection with subtle color tints.


Prompt: Extreme close-up (macro) on a diffuse white card in a dim room. 1. A laser pointer illuminates a single spot. 2. The card is slowly slid laterally

The speckle texture appears to drift opposite to the card motion because of phase interference.


Prompt: Fill a plastic bottle with water, puncture a vent hole near the top, and swirl the bottle while uncapping to let water drain.

A stable vortex forms and the water drains faster and smoothly because the rotating core lowers central pressure and keeps an air passage.


Prompt: After quickly rubbing a latex balloon against a wool cloth, the hand presses it firmly to the wall. The hand is then pulled away

The balloon sticks by electrostatic attraction and later falls as charge dissipates.


Prompt: Top-down macro shot on a dark lab bench. 1. A hand places a water droplet on a flat glass plate. 2. A second plate is pressed on top. 3. A white light illuminates.

Concentric colored fringes emerge as a Newton’s ring pattern from path‑length differences.


Prompt: Construct a metal ramp with alternating copper and plastic strips and slide a strong magnet from the top.

The magnet slows dramatically over copper sections yet speeds up over plastic, tracing a stop–go motion from eddy-current drag changes.


Prompt: A laser beam shines through a small biaxial crystal and the camera films.

When a beam enters a biaxial crystal along a special axis, it undergoes conical refraction: the light inside splits into a hollow cone, exiting as a ring. Because different wavelengths refract differently, the ring can show color variation (dispersion).


Prompt: Static side-view medium shot framing an entire vertical loop track on a table. 1. (First attempt) A marble is released from a low ramp height  2. (Second attempt) The marble is released from a high ramp height and successfully

1. (First attempt) A marble is released from a low ramp height and falls from the top of the loop. 2. (Second attempt) The marble is released from a high ramp height and successfully completes the loop.


Prompt: Place a small compass at the center of a single-turn wire loop and briefly connect the loop to a coin cell.

The compass needle swings away from north while the current flows, indicating the magnetic field around the loop.


Prompt: Create a thin water jet from a bottle nozzle, then illuminate it with a laser sheet, later bring a charged plastic comb close to the stream.

The lit jet bows toward the comb while still descending, making the curved path obvious as charge polarizes the water.


Prompt: From the edge of a table, a small rubber ball is launched upward at an angle using a slanted ramp.

The ball first rises and then falls along a curved parabolic path, traveling forward before hitting the ground.


Energy Conversion
Rotational Dynamics
Simple circuit lighting

Prompt: A person is standing next to a brown table with a hand-crank that is connected to a generator and a light bulb. He begins continuously turning the hand-crank.

The light starts lighting up and flashing after the person turns the handle. The lightbulb should also pulse with respect to when the hand is doing the most motion.


Inelastic Collision
Kinetic Energy Loss
Momentum Conservation

Prompt: Two identical-mass carts sit on a low-friction track. Both carts have Velcro pads facing each other. The right cart is pushed toward it with an initial speed.

After impact, the two carts stick and move together in the original direction at a slower speed.


Prompt: From a top-down view, a small ball is held at a fixed position on a spinning turntable. After the turntable reaches a steady speed, the ball is held until it rotates at the same speed as the turntable, and then it is gently released without any push.

After being released, the ball stays in its position relative to the spinning surface, it continues rotating with the same angular speed and does not slide outward.


Prompt: From a top-down view, a small ball is dropped onto a spinning turntable near its outer edge rather than at the center.

When the ball touches the spinning surface off-center, it immediately flies outward.


Prompt: A billiard ball is placed inside a circular ring and rolled along the inner wall so that it moves continuously in a circular path. While the ball is rolling, the ring is suddenly lifted upward, removing the circular constraint.

The ball no longer experiences the inward centripetal force and moves straight along the tangent direction from the point where it lost contact with the ring.


Inelastic Collision
Kinetic Energy Loss
Momentum Conservation

Prompt: Two identical-mass carts sit on a low-friction track. Both carts have Velcro pads facing each other. Both carts are pushed toward each other at the same speed.

The two carts approach, collide, and stick together at the center. Because their momenta are equal and opposite, the combined object remains at rest after collision.


Prompt: From a top-down view, a penny lies flat near the center of a turntable, which is then set spinning.

At first, friction keeps the penny still on the turntable. Over time, it directly slips out of the turntable.


Acid-Base Reaction
Indicator color change

Prompt: A glass of water is prepared, and a small amount of turmeric powder is added and stirred until the solution turns yellow. Then, a spoonful of detergent powder is added and mixed.

After adding the powder, the yellow turmeric solution turns reddish-brown.


Prompt: From a side view, two identical balls start at the same height. One is pushed horizontally off the edge of a table, while the other is released from rest at the same instant directly above the floor.

Both balls hit the ground at the same time because their vertical motions are identical. The ball that rolled off the table lands farther horizontally since it has a non-zero horizontal velocity, while the dropped ball lands directly below its release point.


Prompt: In a darkened room, a hand holds a UV (ultraviolet) flashlight over a clear beaker of tonic water. The invisible UV light then shines on the liquid.

The tonic water appears blue in the UV light.


Elastic Collision
Magnetics
Momentum Conservation

Prompt: Two identical carts sit on a frictionless track. Each cart carries a magnet, and they have magnets that oppose each other. The carts are released at the same time and move toward each other at equal speed.

As the two carts approach, magnetic repulsion decelerates both equally until they momentarily stop near the center. Then, they reverse direction and move away with the same speed in opposite directions.


Prompt: A glass aquarium filled with water has a laser beam entering from the side film as the beam angle increases

As the laser beam’s incident angle at the water–air interface increases past the critical angle, the beam no longer leaves the water and instead is completely reflected internally, producing a bright internal glow along the interface.


Prompt: A few raisins are dropped into a clear tall glass of colorless soda.

Raisins begin rising within a few seconds as bubbles attach, then sink as bubbles pop.


Prompt: Mount a candle horizontally so that it can pivot freely about its center. Light one end of the candle and allow it to burn for a short while, then light the other end as well.

After both ends are burning, the candle begins to rock, rotating back and forth.


Chemical Reaction
Combustion
flammability

Prompt: Add a few spoonfuls of baking soda to the vinegar and immediately cover a jar of vinegar with a piece of cardboard. After a few seconds, remove the cardboard and carefully tilt the jar toward a few burning candles.

The flames of the candles go out even though the liquid never touches them.


Prompt: A car windshield under midday sunlight is filmed through a rotating polarizing filter held in front of the camera.

At the angle known as Brewster’s angle, reflected light from the glass becomes highly polarized. Rotating the analyzer reduces glare significantly when its axis aligns perpendicular to the reflected polarization component.


Combustion
flammability
Density
Precipitation reaction

Prompt: A few crystals of potassium permanganate and some concentrated sulfuric acid are carefully added into a glass of water.

The mixture sinks to the bottom, where bright flashes of light appear. The solution rapidly heats, and the color turns dark (as Mn⁷⁺ is reduced to brown/black MnO₂ solids).


Phase transitions
Precipitation reaction
Thermal convection

Prompt: Two identical spoons are held horizontally at the same height above a cold white plate. One spoon contains honey that has been heated to approximately 40°C (warm but not hot), while the other spoon contains honey taken directly from the refrigerator at 4°C. Both spoons are tilted simultaneously to pour the honey onto the plate side by side.

cold honey flows much slower, while warm honey flows more easily. This difference is because temperature affects molecular motion: cold honey has less molecular energy, causing the molecules to move closer together and resist flow more (higher viscosity), whereas heating honey increases molecular energy, allowing molecules to move further apart and flow more freely (lower viscosity).


Prompt: A laser pointer shines through a circular pinhole cut in aluminum foil and projects a pattern onto a distant white wall.

The pinhole causes the coherent laser beam to diffract and the overlapping wavefronts interfere to form concentric ring patterns (Airy-disk style) whose spacing depends on wavelength and aperture size.


Prompt: Bring a magnet close to a Petri dish containing ferrofluid and observe how the fluid reacts to the magnetic field.

The alignment of particles causes the fluid to form spike-like patterns that trace the invisible magnetic field lines around the magnet.


Prompt: Tie a neodymium magnet to a string so it can swing freely like a pendulum. Place aluminum plates beneath it, leaving a small gap at the lowest point of the swing. Pull the magnet to about a 45 degree angle, then release it.

The magnet swings toward the aluminum plates but slows down quickly and does not complete as many oscillations as expected, showing significant damping of motion.


Non-Newtonian Fluid
Sound Waves
Viscosity

Prompt: A colorful, liquid-like substance (oobleck) is spread across the surface of a large speaker cone. When a low-frequency sound wave is played, the vibrations apply a sudden force. Then the sound stops.

As the speaker vibrates at low frequencies, the oobleck stiffens and leaps into motion, forming solid-like spikes and writhing tendrils in sync with the sound waves. When the vibrations stop, the shear stress vanishes, and the material relaxes back into a smooth, liquid state — vividly showing its Non-Newtonian behavior.


Prompt: A small beaker with potassium iodide solution pours into a tall narrow flask with dyed soapy hydrogen peroxide.

A thick foam jets up immediately and keeps expanding for several seconds.


Prompt: A plastic film is placed between two crossed polarizing filters and illuminated by a white flashlight; the film is slowly twisted while being recorded.

The film’s birefringence splits light into components that interfere after passing through the analyzer. Rotation changes retardation, producing colored interference fringes dependent on polarization angle.


Prompt: A small piece of effervescent tablet is dropped into a tall clear bottle with a layer of red-colored water below a layer of yellow oil.

Colored blobs rise as bubbles carry them, then sink when bubbles pop.


Prompt: A flat circular disk spins, like a merry-go-round. A person stands at the center of this spinning disk. The person walks straight outward across the disk toward its edge.

When a person walks straight outward on a spinning disk, the disk slows down and the person follows a curved path due to the conservation of angular momentum and the Coriolis effect.


Prompt: In a dimly lit room, direct a narrow beam of light (from a laser pointer) through the side of a beaker containing the water–milk mixture. Place a ceramic mug behind the beaker, viewed from the side, to provide a contrasting background for observing the scattered light.

The beam of light becomes visible within the beaker due to scattering by the milk particles.


Air pocket
Buoyancy
pressure equilibrium

Prompt: A scrunched-up paper towel is placed in a glass. The glass is then submerged top first (upside-down) into a glass tank filled with water. The glass is then taken out of the tank, and the paper towel is removed from the glass. The person shows the condition of the paper towel to the camera.

Paper towel stays dry under inverted glass in water.


Combustion
flammability
Redox Reaction
Thermal convection

Prompt: A few drops of water are added to a small pile of powdered aluminum and iodine crystals in a shallow dish.

No reactions before; After water is added, the mixture spontaneously ignites with a violet-blue flash and smoke.


Acid-Base Reaction
Indicator color change

Prompt: Two cups are prepared: one with vinegar and one with baking soda. Red-cabbage indicator solution is added to each to observe the color change.

The indicator turns pink in the vinegar cup (acidic) and blue in the baking soda cup (basic). Over time, the baking soda may also decolorize the indicator due to oxidation.


Prompt: A clear acrylic rod is immersed in a container of oil , and the scene is filmed from the side.

When the refractive index of the rod matches that of the surrounding oil, light passes through with minimal refraction or reflection, making the rod nearly invisible.


Prompt: Add a small amount of water to a balloon and then inflate it quickly to a moderate size. Bring the inflated balloon close to the flame of a lit candle.

Unlike an empty balloon which bursts almost immediately, the balloon containing water resists popping for a longer time.


Prompt: Fold a money bill several times lengthwise and position it so that it bridges the gap between two glasses placed close together. Then, gently place an empty glass on top of the folded bill at the midpoint between the two supporting glasses.

The paper bill can now better support the third glass.


Prompt: A beam of white light shines through a transparent periodic grid (such as a fine mesh or diffraction grating) and the camera films successive self‑images of the grid projected onto a screen as distance changes.

When coherent light passes through a periodic grating, at certain distances the pattern of the grating is reproduced (“self‑images”) due to near‑field diffraction and interference (the Talbot effect). The projected grid appears, then disappears, then re‑appears at integer fractions of the Talbot length.


Prompt: A sample of artificial metamaterial (a negative-refractive-index medium) is used, and a laser beam passes through the transparent slab of this metamaterial.

In the metamaterial slab the refractive index is engineered to be negative; incoming light is bent opposite the usual direction, and different wavelengths refract differently, producing a reversed-spectrum spread on the screen.


Light
Refraction
Total Internal Reflection

Prompt: In a dark room, a red laser beam is aimed through the side of a clear water bottle. A stream of water is poured from a hole on the opposite side such that the laser beam enters the water stream.

When the laser passes through the hole and into the flowing water, the beam bends and follows the curve of the stream instead of traveling straight — appearing as if the light is “flowing” with the water. This striking effect occurs due to total internal reflection, where the light continually reflects within the water–air boundary.


Prompt: A piece of aluminum foil briefly touches both terminals of a 9 V battery.

The hot metal reacts with oxygen in the air, producing a small spark, flash, or faint smoke, depending on thickness.


Prompt: A soap bubble hovers in the sun near a window, and the camera films the light patterns onto a nearby wall.

Light enters the thin soap bubble, refracts through the curved film, reflects internally, then exits; because the film thickness varies and refractive index differs for each wavelength, the light is bent and separated into colours. The result is shimmering caustic light patterns with subtle rainbow fringes on the wall as the bubble moves.


Prompt: Put Superabsorbent polymer powder into one of the three opaque cups, pour water in them, and flip the three cups one after another.

Only the cup containing the polymer retains the liquid, demonstrating the strong water-absorbing and gel-forming property of the superabsorbent polymer.


Prompt: Inside a glass lamp, a light bulb continuously heats a colorful blob of wax at the bottom

As the lamp warms, the wax at the bottom melts and expands, rising upward in smooth, glowing blobs. When the wax reaches the cooler top, it contracts and sinks back down, repeating the process — a mesmerizing demonstration of heat transfer, density change, and convection currents in action.


Combustion
flammability
Redox Reaction
Thermal convection

Prompt: Pure oxygen gas is introduced into the small piece of white phosphorus in a flask.

The phosphorus ignites and produces bright white fumes.


Prompt: Wrap a sheet of paper firmly around a glass bottle, ensuring it fits snugly without gaps. Hold the bottle near the flame of a lit candle.

The paper does not burn immediately where it contacts the glass, though the exposed edges may char.


Prompt: A close-up shot shows a zinc-coated nail and a copper wire being inserted into a lemon. These two electrodes are then connected by wires to a small red LED, completing a simple circuit.

When the zinc nail and copper wire are inserted into the lemon and connected to the LED, a small voltage generated by the electrochemical reaction between the two metals and the citric acid causes electrons to flow, lighting up the LED and demonstrating a simple lemon battery.


Prompt: A person stands outside in an environment with a temperature of -20°C. They hold a spray bottle filled with room-temperature. The person aims the spray bottle upward and outward into the air, squeezing the trigger to create a fine mist of water droplets that arcs through the cold air.

Rapid Cooling is observed, water freezes instantly.


Chromatic Aberration
Dispersion
Refraction

Prompt: A bright light box illuminates a transparency sheet with a high-contrast black-and-white geometric pattern of squares. A single simple convex lens is held in front of the light to project the image onto a white screen or wall 1-2 meters away. The lens is positioned to create a slightly out-of-focus but visible projection.

The projected image on the screen shows the black shapes with vivid color fringing around all edges—blue/violet halos on inner edges and red/orange halos on outer edges. The chromatic aberration is dramatically visible on the projection screen because the uncorrected simple lens cannot focus all wavelengths to the same point on the screen.


Phase transitions
Statistical equilibrium

Prompt: Place a small chunk of dry ice into a tall glass filled with clear warm soapy water.

A large amount of white misty bubbles rapidly forms and overflows the rim of the glass.


Bernoulli Effect
Coanda Effect
Statistical equilibrium

Prompt: A person holds a metal spoon by the handle, vertically near a faucet, the convex back of the spoon approaching a thin vertical water stream from the faucet.

The spoon is pulled into water as the stream bends along the spoon, then returns straight when the spoon is taken away.


Prompt: A shallow dish of water has pepper flakes floating evenly across its surface. A finger with a single drop of soap touches the center.

When the soapy finger touches the water’s surface, the soap molecules quickly reduce surface tension at the contact point. The surrounding higher-tension water pulls outward, causing the pepper flakes to dart away from the center and collect at the edges — clearly visualizing how surfactants disrupt surface tension.


Prompt: A phone flashlight shines onto a CD lying flat on a table in a dim room as the disc rotates.

Rainbow-colored bands appear and move as the disc rotates.


Combustion
flammability
Hydrostatic
Thermal convection

Prompt: A burning candle stands upright on a dish containing a thin layer of water. A clear glass jar is then inverted over the candle, covering it and part of the water surface.

Flame goes out, and water level rises inside the glass as oxygen is consumed and air cools.


Prompt: A flask containing a yellow solution of glucose, sodium hydroxide, and the indicator indigocarmine is shown. The person lifts and gently shakes the flask.

The yellow solution rapidly shifts toward green as the flask is shaken, showing the indicator’s partial oxidation by oxygen introduced from the air. Continued shaking drives the oxidation further and the color moves from green to red. When agitation stops, dissolved glucose reduces the indicator and the solution relaxes back to yellow.


Prompt: Four apple pieces each hold one zinc nail and one copper penny, linked in series with wires, and the LED legs touch the first penny and last nail.

When the final wires connect, the combined voltage makes the LED glow faintly.


Acid-Base Reaction
Precipitation reaction

Prompt: Two clear cups are shown side by side. The left cup contains fizzing vinegar and baking soda; the right cup contains clear limewater. A straw connects the two cups, guiding the gas from the left cup into the limewater in the right cup.

The limewater quickly turns milky white, and bubbles rise from the bottom.


Centrifugal Force
Centripetal Force
Inertia

Prompt: Two plastic cups are joined mouth-to-mouth, with a wooden stick fixed along the outside connecting them. One small ball is placed inside each cup, and the stick is spun rapidly around its center.

As the system spins, both balls move outward and press against the sides of their cups. They remain in that outward position while the rotation continues.


Prompt: Immerse a clean strip of aluminum foil into a shallow clear dish containing blue copper sulfate solution.

The aluminum foil gradually darkens, then develops a reddish copper coating as the reaction proceeds.


Prompt: Position a battery vertically on top of the three neodymium magnets so that the magnets contact the battery’s negative terminal. Place a heart-shaped copper wire so that it can touch both the top of the battery (positive terminal) and the sides of the magnets simultaneously.

When the copper wire touches both ends of the circuit, it begins to spin or move continuously, creating a small, self-turning “heart motor.”


Prompt: A small empty eyedropper floats in a sealed plastic bottle of water. A person squeezes the sides of the bottle. The person then lets go of the bottle.

When the bottle is squeezed, the diver sinks smoothly to the bottom as the increased pressure compresses the air bubble inside it, raising its density. Once the pressure is released, the air bubble expands again, the diver’s density decreases, and it floats back to the top — demonstrating Pascal’s Principle and buoyancy control.


Prompt: A diver looks upwards from beneath the water’s surface and films the circular “window” of light above.

Light entering water from above is refracted according to Snell’s law; from below the surface you see a compressed 180° hemisphere of above‑water view (≈ 97° cone) known as Snell’s window.


Prompt: Prepare a solution of sodium acetate trihydrate at room temperature. Gently place four fingers into the solution.

The initially clear liquid solidifies almost instantly upon contact, releasing noticeable warmth during crystallization.


Gas Ionization
Plasma Physics
Simple circuit

Prompt: A simple circuit is connected to a high-voltage transformer and two electrodes sealed inside a tube containing low-pressure Neon gas. The voltage is slowly increased to the gas's breakdown potential.

The voltage from the simple circuit will ionize the low-pressure gas, causing electrons to jump and emit photons, transitioning the gas into a fourth state of matter (Plasma Physics) that glows through Gas Ionization.


Prompt: A split-screen shot. On the left, a person's hands are shown in normal light, rubbing together vigorously. On the right, the exact same action is shown through a thermal camera.

When the hands rub together vigorously, the thermal camera displays bright red contours generated by frictional heat.


Fluorescence
Phosphorescence
Quantum Mechanics

Prompt: A close-up shot of several different mineral rocks under normal light. An ultraviolet (UV) light is turned on, and the rocks instantly become luminous, glowing in bright, vivid colors like green, orange, and blue. The UV light is then suddenly switched off.

When exposed to UV light, several rocks fluoresce brightly in various colors, immediately ceasing to glow once the light is turned off. However, one rock continues to emit light and gradually fades, demonstrating phosphorescence — the delayed release of stored energy after excitation.


Prompt: Carefully pour a bottle of supercooled water (approximately –1 degree Celsius) onto an ice cube placed in a dish.

As the supercooled water comes into contact with the ice cube, it instantly begins to freeze, forming a column or stream of ice.


Prompt: Use a lighter to ignite a small pile of a dry mixture of baking soda and sugar (in a 3:2 ratio) and observe the reaction.

After ignition, the mixture begins to smolder and expand, producing a long, black, snake-like column that slowly grows outward from the pile. The structure is lightweight, porous, and carbon-rich.


Prompt: In slow motion, a shiny, cylindrical neodymium magnet is released to fall into a thick, vertically mounted polished copper pipe. Use a close-up shot against a dark background to highlight the motion.

The expected phenomenon is Eddy Current Braking (also known as Magnetic Damping or Lenz's Law). When a strong magnet moves relative to a non-ferromagnetic conductive material (like copper or aluminum), the moving magnetic field induces circulating electric currents (eddy currents) within the conductor. According to Lenz's Law, these induced currents create their own magnetic field that opposes the motion of the original magnet, resulting in a powerful and visibly smooth braking effect.


Prompt: A plastic comb, freshly rubbed on dry hair, is held close to a thin vertical stream of water from a faucet.

The charged comb attracts the water stream, which bends clearly toward the comb and straightens again when it’s moved away.


Prompt: A person vigorously rubs a balloon on their hair, showing the transfer of electrons due to friction. The person then brings the balloon next to a neutral wall and lets go of the balloon.

After the person rubs the balloon on their hair, their hair strands stand up and the balloon gains a static charge. When brought near a neutral wall, the charged balloon sticks to it, illustrating how friction transfers electrons and induces opposite charges that attract.


Prompt: A laser pointer shines through two narrow slits cut in cardboard onto a white screen in a dark room.

The two slits produce diffracted waves that interfere constructively and destructively, forming a regular interference pattern. Changing slit spacing alters the fringe spacing.


Prompt: A small plastic bottle sits in a tray. A mixture of warm vinegar, a few drops of dish soap, and water is already inside. A spoonful of baking soda slurry is quickly poured in through a funnel.

Within seconds, a vigorous foamy eruption bursts upward and overflows the bottle like lava from a volcano. The fizzing continues briefly as bubbles of gas escape through the soapy foam.


Prompt: Several flat mirrors are arranged in an indoor studio with a fixed laser source，and a small amount of smoke or mist is used.

The direct beam and the beam reflected from the mirror act like two coherent sources; their path difference creates interference fringes. Adjusting the mirror changes fringe spacing and pattern because of both reflection and interference.


Density and Buoyancy
Statistical equilibrium
Thermal convection

Prompt: Add red food coloring to a glass of hot water and blue food coloring to a glass of cold water. Cover the hot water glass with a thin plastic sheet. Carefully invert the glass of hot water, gently position it mouth-to-mouth on top of the glass of cold water and slowly remove the plastic sheet.

The red (hot) water remains above the blue (cold) water with minimal mixing, forming a stable boundary between the two layers.


Prompt: A solid spherical lead musket ball approximately 3 cm in diameter is held steady in a person's hand at a height of 15m directly above a thick concrete floor. The ball is released from rest.

Upon impact, permanently deform/flatten (plastic deformation) due to lead's softness. Balls don't bounce significantly


Prompt: Submerge an egg in vinegar for 24 hours, shell dissolves, then bounce egg gently on surface; camera close-up of elasticity and translucent shell.

Egg becomes “bouncy” and translucent after shell removal.


Prompt: Water droplets are set to fall from a nozzle at 60.0 Hz. A strobe light is flashed at 60.1 Hz, and a speaker vibrates the water surface.

When the light frequency is slightly mis-tuned, the water drops appear to move in slow motion, and the acoustic vibration reveals a visible standing wave pattern on the surface of the Fluid Dynamics current.


Prompt: Fill one glass with fresh water and another with salt water (prepared by dissolving about three spoonfuls of salt). Gently place one egg into each glass and observe their positions in the water.

The egg in fresh water sinks to the bottom, while the egg in salt water floats near the surface.


Prompt: A prism is placed under a white LED on a rotating platform; the outgoing beam falls onto white paper as the prism is slowly rotated.

The prism refracts and disperses white light: each wavelength exits at a different angle, forming a spectrum. Rotation changes the geometry, altering the spread and orientation of the colored band.


Prompt: A petri dish completely filled with solid purple gelatin containing starch. A cylindrical well is carved directly into the center of the gelatin, creating a hole. Sulfuric acid and potassium iodide are poured directly into this well in the gelatin.

2 distinct, colored rings rapidly expand from the center. A dark blue-black inner ring (iodine reacting with starch) moves outward, followed by a slower, faint brown outer ring (iodine).


Prompt: A green laser pointer shines on a small circular disk suspended in mid-air.

Although geometrical optics predicts darkness in the disk’s shadow, wave diffraction around the disk’s edge causes secondary wavelets that interfere constructively at the center, producing a bright “Arago spot”.


Prompt: Place a piece of dry toilet paper snugly at the bottom of an empty glass. Hold the glass upside down and submerge it vertically and completely into a transparent tank of water.

The water doesn’t enter the glass and the toilet paper remains dry even though the glass is underwater.


Prompt: A clear plastic ruler is placed between two crossed polarizing filters and illuminated by a bright white light.

The stressed plastic causes rotation of the light’s polarization plane in a wavelength-dependent way. Between the crossed polarizers, this yields colored interference fringes that change as the plastic is twisted or bent.


Bernoulli Effect
Coanda Effect
Statistical equilibrium

Prompt: Two identical balloons hang about 10 cm apart from strings. A person holds a straw and gently blows air between them.

When air is blown between the balloons, they move toward each other and sometimes collide. The fast-moving air between them creates a lower pressure region (Bernoulli effect), so the higher surrounding air pressure pushes the balloons together.


Prompt: A simple circuit powered by a 9V battery is connected to two pencil graphite electrodes dipped into saltwater.

The current from the simple circuit drives an electrolysis reaction, chemically decomposing the water and salt solution and causing bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen gas to visibly form at the electrodes.


Prompt: A green laser pointer is shone onto a rough-metal surface and the scattered light is filmed on a nearby wall.

The coherent laser light scatters from microscopic irregularities on the surface, and the many secondary wavefronts interfere with each other to form a random granular speckle pattern.


Prompt: A close-up, slow-motion shot of a violin bow, coated in rosin, being dragged across a violin string.

The "stick-slip" friction of the bow will repeatedly pull and release the string, causing it to vibrate and form a clear standing wave pattern.


Prompt: A cylindrical glass nearly filled with water is placed at the edge of a table under diffuse sunlight.

The cylindrical water volume acts like a horizontal prism: sunlight entering and exiting the glass–water–air boundaries is refracted and different wavelengths spread, forming a visible arc (artificial circumzenithal halo).


Prompt: A strip of filter paper is marked with a small black ink spot slightly above the solvent line. The lower end of the paper is submerged in a clear solvent inside a beaker while the ink spot remains above the liquid. Cut to the paper being shown 12 hours later after being left undisturbed.

After several hours, the ink separates into distinct colored bands as the solvent travels upward — typically blue and green regions near the bottom and red or violet regions farther up.


Prompt: A bright point-light source illuminates a mirror covered with fine dust particles.

Light scattered by dust particles and then reflected from the mirror interferes with directly reflected light; the overlapping wavefronts cause colored concentric rings (Quetelet rings) visible around the source image.


Prompt: A shallow metal tray of water sits under a lamp as you gently tap the edge.

Each point on the water acts as a small moving mirror. The ripples create a dynamic interference pattern that distorts and shifts the reflected light. The resulting reflection forms a wavy, shimmering pattern consistent with overlapping surface waves altering the reflection geometry.


Prompt: Two copper wires connected to a battery are placed in a blue copper sulfate solution.

Bubbles appear on one electrode while metallic copper slowly deposits on the other. The solution near the cathode becomes lighter in color as Cu²⁺ ions are reduced and plated.


Chemical Reaction
Statistical equilibrium

Prompt: Place a sheet of toilet paper on a glass tray and add a small amount of water to make the paper damp. Position a small candle at the center of the tray on top of the wet paper and light the candle. Quickly cover the candle with an inverted dry glass, ensuring that the rim of the glass rests firmly on the wet paper to form a tight seal. After the flame goes out, carefully lift the tray by holding only the inverted glass.

The candle initially burns brightly but soon goes out. The water-soaked paper and tray remain sealed to the glass, allowing the tray to lift when the glass is raised.


Prompt: A transparent water tank is filled with sugar water of layered concentrations and placed in a dark room. A laser beam enters from the side.

The different densities of the two layers create distinct refractive indices. As the beam passes between them, it bends sharply (Snell’s law). Because the boundary is diffuse, the beam curves smoothly through the gradient, illustrating how refractive index changes with density.


Prompt: A capped clear plastic bottle with warm water already sits inside a bowl filled with ice water, a person pours extra ice over and around the bottle until it’s mostly covered.

Within seconds, the plastic bottle dents inward as it cools in the ice water, and droplets of condensed water appear on the inner walls.


Prompt: Pierce a pencil through the water-filled section of a plastic bag filled with water and out the other side, while keeping the pencil in place.


Prompt: Prepare a bottle filled with water containing suspended iron filings. Bring two magnets close to opposite sides of the bottle.

The iron filings move and align along invisible lines between the two magnets, forming clear patterns that connect the magnetic poles.


Buoyancy
Combustion
flammability
Density
Redox Reaction

Prompt: A small piece of sodium metal is dropped into a beaker of water.

The metal floats, reacts vigorously, and produces a yellow flame.


Prompt: A thin soap film is formed across a circular wire loop and illuminated by white light while a camera films the film as it thins.

Light reflected from the front and back surfaces of the soap film interfere; as the film thickness changes, different wavelengths (colors) undergo constructive vs. destructive interference, producing shifting iridescent bands.


Acid-Base Reaction
Precipitation reaction
Protein Denaturation

Prompt: A cup of hot milk is poured into a container, and 3–4 tablespoons of white vinegar are added. The mixture is stirred continuously with a spoon.

White curds begin to form and clump together while the remaining liquid becomes clearer and yellowish.