Liquid Nitrogen - Banana and Mercury Hammer

 

 

Image #2
Image #3

Image #4

 

MPEG Movie (14.4 MB w/ Sound)

 

 

content.gif (1503 bytes)
 Code Number :   4A40.20 

Disclaimer:

Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website.

The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources.

Further information regarding legal liability in use of demonstrations and labs will be found on the web site Injuries in School/College Laboratories in USA.

The University of Iowa Disclaimers:  University of Iowa Disclaimer All Rights Reserved..

Condition :   Good  
Principle :   Properties of Liquid Nitrogen  
Area of Study :  Chemistry and Physics  
Equipment :   Liquid Nitrogen, Dewars, Plastic Beakers, Mercury, Paper Cup, Tongs, Bananas, Nails and Boards. 

Procedure :   Arrange ahead of time to get liquid nitrogen from either Biochem Stores . Typically it takes about 4 liters for each classroom demonstration.  Freeze a banana and you can drive nails with it.  The fibrous nature of the banana keeps it from breaking apart easily.  

Directions for the Mercury Hammer can be found in the files or the hardcopy 4A40.20 entry.  

The temperature of liquid nitrogen should be a -196o C or approximately 77o K.

conbot.gif (53 bytes)


   References

Hk-7,8:  Freier and Anderson, A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

 

H-078:  "Objects in Liquid Nitrogen,"  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.

 

Gordon McComb,  Lasers, Ray Guns, & Light Cannons - Projects from the Wizard's Workbench, pp. 28.



Mail Questions and Comments to:  Dale Stille