Thoughts please

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The theme for next year is "light" so I've been putting my thinking cap

on. My

Quoted message said:

vague idea at the minute is to run *something* to show how during

daylight,

Quoted message said:

fluorescent colours are highly visible and how at night, reflectives are better. possibly I'll
have some sort of set up where I have a dark box,

with a

Quoted message said:

light at one end & something reflective at the other. and am getting my

head

Quoted message said:

around the fluorescent bit...

So - collective picking of brains, please - any ideas???

How about the legendary glowing pickle? Connect a gerkin up to the mains and observe the pretty
light effects.

Thanks to all for the suggestions/offers.

Will keep musing and may well take up offers as and when it comes time for the event - if offer
still open at the time.

Am tying in the light/colour thing with use of bike as way to reduce carbon emissions - alternative
transport etc... One of the other stalls is about reducing carbon emissions generaly - so I'll flow
through with the use of a bike as a way for someone to reduce their carbon emissions (as less
reliance on car..) and link in the colour bit with fluorescents/reflectives - somehow - in a fun way
- without appearing to ram it all down the throat & being evangelical about cycling. If you see what
I mean - I know what I mean, anyhow!

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove dependency on fame &
fortune h*$el*$$e**nd***$o$ts***i*$*$m**m$$o*n**s@$*$a$$o**l.c**$*$om$$

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The theme for next year is "light" so I've been putting my thinking cap

on. My

Quoted message said:

vague idea at the minute is to run *something* to show how during

daylight,

Quoted message said:

fluorescent colours are highly visible and how at night, reflectives are better. possibly I'll
have some sort of set up where I have a dark box,

with a

Quoted message said:

light at one end & something reflective at the other. and am getting my

head

Quoted message said:

around the fluorescent bit...

So - collective picking of brains, please - any ideas???

How about the legendary glowing pickle? Connect a gerkin up to the mains and observe the pretty
light effects.

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The theme for next year is "light" so I've been putting my thinking cap

on. My

Quoted message said:

vague idea at the minute is to run *something* to show how during

daylight,

Quoted message said:

fluorescent colours are highly visible and how at night, reflectives are better. possibly I'll
have some sort of set up where I have a dark box,

with a

Quoted message said:

light at one end & something reflective at the other. and am getting my

head

Quoted message said:

around the fluorescent bit...

So - collective picking of brains, please - any ideas???

How about the legendary glowing pickle? Connect a gerkin up to the mains and observe the pretty
light effects.

Roos Eisma said:

Not light related but a good demo: use a wheel with rubber bands instead of spokes, mount it
vertically, and aim a hairdryer at the rubber bands on one side, and the wheel will turn. Maybe
next year if the theme is 'heat'?

A candle flame works as well as a hair dryer, and is a bit less prone to the suspicion they you
might be blowing the wheel round.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's
Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK ["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

"Roos Eisma" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

As a leftover from teaching techie stuff to 10 yo girls I have a couple of setups with a fragment
of solar panel, and a small electromotor. Rotation speed varies with the type of lamp you shine on
it. Email me if you'd like to borrow it.

We've got a huge 1000W light bulb at school...certainly makes 'em shift compared to a 60W. You can
buy solar panel buggy kits...probably from model shops.

"John Hearns" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Nowt to do with cycling, but I read somewhere about snapping Polo mints in half with pliers in the
dark. Produces a flash of light, a process known as tribolumiesence.
chemistry.about.comaa060601a.htmOpen ↗ All you need is a donated jar of mints,
and a big blackout cloth. Kids will like to eat the sweets afterwards!

That's interesting (well only to some people obviously). I didn't realise you could do it with any
old sweets. I thought there was something special about the "Wintergreen Lifesavers" or whatever it
is that invariably gets mentioned.

Roos Eisma said:

Not light related but a good demo: use a wheel with rubber bands instead of spokes, mount it
vertically, and aim a hairdryer at the rubber bands on one side, and the wheel will turn. Maybe
next year if the theme is 'heat'?

A candle flame works as well as a hair dryer, and is a bit less prone to the suspicion they you
might be blowing the wheel round.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's
Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK ["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Keeping on the track of showing how effective flourescent or reflective materials are, this demo has
to be fun, right?

How about something as simple as setting up a light-tight stage with black curtains. Make up two
'skeleton suits' with flourescent and the other with reflective patches. Get a video camera (maybe
one of the IR sensitive Sony ones mentioned, though I thought these were off the market)! Two kids
will volunteer to dance or act the fool as their mates watch on a TV monitor and the lights are
turned down.

Totally devoid of educational potential really.

I was thinking more of the Edward Muybridge films of the horse galloping. Again totally off the top
of my head, have someone on a roller-mounted bike with various wheel and pedal reflectors. They
pedal as the lights are dimmed. Bit of a yawn, but maybe the wheel rotation speed could be measured
optically from the reflector (*), or the speed at which the wheel reflector image blurs into a hoop
could be measured.

(*) easy to set the curcuitry up for this one. Just think of a cycle computer with a photocell
instead of a magnet.

"Roos Eisma" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

As a leftover from teaching techie stuff to 10 yo girls I have a couple of setups with a fragment
of solar panel, and a small electromotor. Rotation speed varies with the type of lamp you shine on
it. Email me if you'd like to borrow it.

We've got a huge 1000W light bulb at school...certainly makes 'em shift compared to a 60W. You can
buy solar panel buggy kits...probably from model shops.

"John Hearns" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Nowt to do with cycling, but I read somewhere about snapping Polo mints in half with pliers in the
dark. Produces a flash of light, a process known as tribolumiesence.
chemistry.about.comaa060601a.htmOpen ↗ All you need is a donated jar of mints,
and a big blackout cloth. Kids will like to eat the sweets afterwards!

That's interesting (well only to some people obviously). I didn't realise you could do it with any
old sweets. I thought there was something special about the "Wintergreen Lifesavers" or whatever it
is that invariably gets mentioned.

Keeping on the track of showing how effective flourescent or reflective materials are, this demo has
to be fun, right?

How about something as simple as setting up a light-tight stage with black curtains. Make up two
'skeleton suits' with flourescent and the other with reflective patches. Get a video camera (maybe
one of the IR sensitive Sony ones mentioned, though I thought these were off the market)! Two kids
will volunteer to dance or act the fool as their mates watch on a TV monitor and the lights are
turned down.

Totally devoid of educational potential really.

I was thinking more of the Edward Muybridge films of the horse galloping. Again totally off the top
of my head, have someone on a roller-mounted bike with various wheel and pedal reflectors. They
pedal as the lights are dimmed. Bit of a yawn, but maybe the wheel rotation speed could be measured
optically from the reflector (*), or the speed at which the wheel reflector image blurs into a hoop
could be measured.

(*) easy to set the curcuitry up for this one. Just think of a cycle computer with a photocell
instead of a magnet.

Roos Eisma said:

Not light related but a good demo: use a wheel with rubber bands instead of spokes, mount it
vertically, and aim a hairdryer at the rubber bands on one side, and the wheel will turn. Maybe
next year if the theme is 'heat'?

A candle flame works as well as a hair dryer, and is a bit less prone to the suspicion they you
might be blowing the wheel round.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's
Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK ["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

"Roos Eisma" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

As a leftover from teaching techie stuff to 10 yo girls I have a couple of setups with a fragment
of solar panel, and a small electromotor. Rotation speed varies with the type of lamp you shine on
it. Email me if you'd like to borrow it.

We've got a huge 1000W light bulb at school...certainly makes 'em shift compared to a 60W. You can
buy solar panel buggy kits...probably from model shops.

"John Hearns" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Nowt to do with cycling, but I read somewhere about snapping Polo mints in half with pliers in the
dark. Produces a flash of light, a process known as tribolumiesence.
chemistry.about.comaa060601a.htmOpen ↗ All you need is a donated jar of mints,
and a big blackout cloth. Kids will like to eat the sweets afterwards!

That's interesting (well only to some people obviously). I didn't realise you could do it with any
old sweets. I thought there was something special about the "Wintergreen Lifesavers" or whatever it
is that invariably gets mentioned.

Keeping on the track of showing how effective flourescent or reflective materials are, this demo has
to be fun, right?

How about something as simple as setting up a light-tight stage with black curtains. Make up two
'skeleton suits' with flourescent and the other with reflective patches. Get a video camera (maybe
one of the IR sensitive Sony ones mentioned, though I thought these were off the market)! Two kids
will volunteer to dance or act the fool as their mates watch on a TV monitor and the lights are
turned down.

Totally devoid of educational potential really.

I was thinking more of the Edward Muybridge films of the horse galloping. Again totally off the top
of my head, have someone on a roller-mounted bike with various wheel and pedal reflectors. They
pedal as the lights are dimmed. Bit of a yawn, but maybe the wheel rotation speed could be measured
optically from the reflector (*), or the speed at which the wheel reflector image blurs into a hoop
could be measured.

(*) easy to set the curcuitry up for this one. Just think of a cycle computer with a photocell
instead of a magnet.

"Chris Malcolm" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not light related but a good demo: use a wheel with rubber bands instead of spokes, mount it
vertically, and aim a hairdryer at the rubber bands

on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

one side, and the wheel will turn. Maybe next year if the theme is

'heat'?

Quoted message said:

A candle flame works as well as a hair dryer, and is a bit less prone to the suspicion they you
might be blowing the wheel round.

Hmm...that's an interesting scale up version of the metal foil rotating fan thingies. If that's what
you mean. Don't suppose it would take much heat convection to get a bike wheel turning with suitable
blades. Think you might need something better than rubber bands.

"Chris Malcolm" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not light related but a good demo: use a wheel with rubber bands instead of spokes, mount it
vertically, and aim a hairdryer at the rubber bands

on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

one side, and the wheel will turn. Maybe next year if the theme is

'heat'?

Quoted message said:

A candle flame works as well as a hair dryer, and is a bit less prone to the suspicion they you
might be blowing the wheel round.

Hmm...that's an interesting scale up version of the metal foil rotating fan thingies. If that's what
you mean. Don't suppose it would take much heat convection to get a bike wheel turning with suitable
blades. Think you might need something better than rubber bands.

John Hearns said:

Another thought, this time on reflectives.

Quoted message said:

Explain by a demonstration HOW Scotchlite reflectives work.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know how Scotchlite works by the way?

Quoted message said:

If it is somehow a mass of corner reflectors, you could build a big corner reflector from mirrors,
and use smoke or a water tank to show the light being bounced back.

You don't need to do that. If you make a big enough corner reflector to refelct a face then you
can see that light always comes straight back because wherever you look at it from you always see
your face.
--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's
Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK ["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

John Hearns said:

Another thought, this time on reflectives.

Quoted message said:

Explain by a demonstration HOW Scotchlite reflectives work.

Quoted message said:

Does anyone know how Scotchlite works by the way?

Quoted message said:

If it is somehow a mass of corner reflectors, you could build a big corner reflector from mirrors,
and use smoke or a water tank to show the light being bounced back.

You don't need to do that. If you make a big enough corner reflector to refelct a face then you
can see that light always comes straight back because wherever you look at it from you always see
your face.
--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's
Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK ["]http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]