MOVING MOLECULES

INTRODUCTION

Air, like all materials, is made up of lots of little balls called molecules. We are going to build a model of air to see how sound travels.

WHAT YOU NEED

1 dowel                  1 brown bead            3 inches of tape
2 large books            4 colored beads         scissors
5 pieces of string                               paper

WHAT YOU DO

1. Stand two of the books up and put the dowel on top.

2. Draw an ear on paper. Cut it out and tape it to one of the books.

3. Start with the brown bead. Tape the string to the mark on the dowel that is farthest away from the ear.

4. Then tape the 4 colored beads to the other 4 marks. All of the beads should hang in a straight line.

5. The colored beads represent air molecules. Cause a vibration (sound) in the air by tapping the brown bead toward the colored beads. What happens to the air molecules?

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