Sci: A convection snake

Cut a piece of paper into a 6 cm diameter spiral. It doesn’t need to be too neat. I drew a guideline, and only followed it roughly.

Cut a piece of thread 15 cm long and tape one end of the piece of thread to the centre of the paper spiral.

Light the stove on low gas, and ask an adult to hold the paper spiral by the thread about 30 cm above the flame. (Caution: Do not allow the paper to catch fire.) What happens?

The energy from the gas flame heats the air above it. Warm air is less dense than cool air, so as the air heats up, it rises up from the stove. Cool air moves in to replace the warmer, lighter air. This “convection current” causes the spiral to twirl.

To search this blog, use this link and then use the search box

Another way: use the index!