Resources by Royal Institution
Displaying 51 - 60 of 63
Tales from the Prep Room: Lighting a Match with Water
Produced by the Royal Institution, this video shows how superheated steam can be generated and used to light a match.
The clip shows how the equipment is set up to produce steam and then heat it further in a copper coil. This produces superheated steam at a temperature in excess of 200[sup]o[/sup]C.
...Tales from the Prep Room: Liquid Oxygen
This video, from the Royal Institution, shows how liquid oxygen is made using an oxygen gas cylinder and liquid nitrogen to condense it to a liquid. Pouring liquid oxygen between the poles of a magnet demonstrates how the unpaired electrons within the material have a residual dipole and can act as a weak magnet....
Tales from the Prep Room: Magnus Cups
Produced by the Royal Institution, this video demonstrates the effects of air movement over a spinning surface and how it can be used to generate lift. The demonstration is simple and uses just two polystyrene cups joined to produce a 'Magnus Cup.'
When launched, the Magnus Cup spins backwards and this...
Tales from the Prep Room: Making Sand Swim
Produced by the Royal Institution, this short video shows how compressed air can have some unusual effects on the properties of sand.
Passing compressed air through a layer of sand causes the sand particles to flow over each other similar to a fluid. In the 'fluidised bed' the sand acts like a liquid and...
Tales from the Prep Room: the Ames Room
Produced by the Royal Institution, this short video clip shows how perception can be confused in an Ames room.
The video shows the production of the room, which has a checked floor, windows and ceiling that appear to be normal but is in fact distorted. The overall effect is that moving to different parts...
The Humble Braggs and X-ray Crystallography
Patience Thomson, daughter of William Lawrence Bragg, presents an intimate portrait of her father. From his detailed artworks to his love of detective stories and puzzles, Patience reveals how Lawrence’s unique character and analytical mindset led to numerous scientific breakthroughs.
The film describes...
The Light Bulb Moment
In this lesson aimed at lower primary, children find out about the uses of light bulbs, other than providing light. Children work scientifically observing, comparing and contrasting the features of different light bulbs and sorting them into groups according to similarities and differences. They then work as ‘light...
Since 1799 the Royal Institution has been introducing new technologies and teaching science to the general public. Their vision is " A world where everyone is inspired to think more deeply about science and its place in our lives." They use their iconic Christmas...
The Vacuum Bazooka
In this video, the Naked Scientist's Kitchen Specialist Dave Ansell presents a way to recycle everyday household items, such as plastic pipes and tubes with foam covered projectiles to build a vacuum bazooka.
Curriculum links include forces, pressure, projectiles.
The video was produced by the Royal...
Thorium
In the build-up to the Christmas Lectures in 2012, the Royal Institution published a new video for every day of advent revealing the elements that really excite and inspire people. Physicist Suzie Sheehy demonstrates how element thorium could be used as a fuel in future nuclear reactors. Unlike uranium, thorium...