A Cat give birth in my lab

Hey you know what! This time I am not sharing any experiment. By want to share this amazing thing that happen in my lab. Initially I found strange when my milk powder which is left on the table (tied in a plastic bag) was tear open with some unknown force. Initially I thought got ghost especially now is the 7th month. By then a few day later which is today, I heard a cat sound and look at a corner where I keep my reagent bottle. To my surprise I saw 4 kittens there. The picture above is where I found the kitten. I put a cloth over them as I see they are shivering. I did saw the mother cat but when I move toward them the mother cat jump out of the window. (Don worry my lab is at level 1 so I am not forcing the mother cat to commit suicide.

Then I put the kitten properly in a basket with newspaper and the kitten just sleep there. I really don know what to do with them now. Hopefully their mother will come back and feed them if not they will strave to death as I am not sure cow milk is suitable for them or not cos they are too young to eat anything. I scare if I give them the wrong food I may end up poisoning them.

Batteries arrangement

Hmm.... Everyone knows that when we connect batteries together, it has to be the positive pole connected to the negative pole. So how about connecting it as in the circuit I drawn? 3 batteries is connected correctly but the fourth batteries is connect opposite. This can works (see my photo on the right). I have check the voltage across the batteries using a multitester. It shows that the voltage is 3V. I used a 1.5V batteries so 4 batteries why is only 3V and not 6V?

I tried with a lot of arrangment and come out with this conclusion. You have to add up the number of batteries that point to the same direction minus away the batteries voltage that is pointing at another direction. So in my case I have 3 batteries with positive pointing to the left and 1 battery pointing to the right. So it will be (3x1.5V) - 1.5V=3V. Therefore my bulb will still light up as there is still 3V of voltage passing through it.

However when we only have 2 batteries, both pointing at different direction, there will not be voltage passing through. You can see the reading from my multitester. Although it shows 0.02V but that is because one of my battery is 0.02V stronger than another.

So you may wonder how can it be? I ever tried to disarrange the batteries in a torchlight which need 3 batteries so it should have 1.5V but it never light up? This is because the bulb need more voltage to pass through for it to light up that why they manufacture it to use 3 batteries (If not they can only make it to use only 1 battery like that even lighter). Is not because there is no voltage passing through then no light come out. So hope you understand the concept now.

Is chicken egg fertilized internally or externally?

Hmm, while teaching my student on internal and external fertilization. I encounter this problem. As I keep on teaching on external fertilization where egg are laid and wait for the male to fertilize (like frog and salmon). So my student ask me how about chicken as they keep on producing egg.

We know that an egg need a embryo (a red dot) in it so that it can be hatched into a chick. I know that the egg we ate are normally not fertilize. So is it chicken also lay egg then wait for male to fertilize? As I never see a chicken and a rooster have sex. But the answer is NO. I think chicken normally find a quiet place to have sex where nobody see it (even my mum who use to rear chicken while she was young also don't know chicken will have sex with male).

But then I never seen a rooster with penis leh (I only see it in dogs and dogs having sex can also be seen easily). But I found this in Yahoo Answer that bird penises are tucked away and don't come out until they're needed. But exactly like mammals and reptiles, birds need to have sex in order to get offspring. For a bird, there's no way to fertilize an egg after it's been laid.On the other hand, a chicken (or any bird) can lay unfertilized eggs. A chicken does not have to have sex to lay an egg. So is quite similar to human as we do produce egg every month from our ovary whether we have sex or not.

So I think this is quite clear that chicken reproduce through internal fertilization then ;)

Parallel or series (electric circuit) ?

Haiz long time never study physics even I always work in the lab. While teaching one of my staff on connection of circuit suddenly realise why when my bulbs connected in parallel will all light up. However when I used the same number and same type of bulb using the same batteries when connected in series not all of them like up, furthermore it is also dimmer when compared with connecting it parallel.

I knew that most of our electric circuit in our household are connected in parallel. I remember that as I know when connected in parallel, if one of the appliance is spoil it will not cut off the circuit so the rest of the appliances can still be work.

Another reason I also found out after conducting the above experiment. Appliance do have resistance itself. When connected in series the resistance is added up together. (Example if I have 3 appliances with 20 ohm resistance each, the total resistance of the circuit will be 60 ohm). However to calculate the resistance of a parallel circuit we uses 1/R (R=resistance). Which mean if the scenario is the same as above, when connected in parallel the total resistance is 1/20 X 3 which is 3/20 ohm.

So you see it? 3/20 ohm compare to 60 ohm no wonder my bulbs cannot like up when connect in series and it is really a waste of electricity as all my current are block by the high resistance. So remember if you want to set up a circuit which need to connect with a lot of appliances make sure you connect them in parallel in order for it to work more efficiently.

For those who have never study physics or science before, please find out yourself how a parallel and series circuit look like ;)

Anaerobic respiration

Hmm, a teacher asked me what will be the result of this experiment. This experiment demostrated the effect of anaerobic respiration of yeast.

Yeast suspension is mixed with glucose and a layer of oil is added on top to ensure it is anaerobic. This is actually a question on a worksheet which ask what will happen to the limewater. Normal people will sure know that during anaerobic respiration, carbon dioxide will produce and it will pass through the delivery tube to make the limewater chalky. This is a correct answer.

However some "smart kid" who answer it that the lime water will not turn chalky as in their opinion, the layer of oil which prevent oxygen to enter should also prevent the carbon dioxide from escaping. So to prove this theory wrong and to confirm our answer we tried out this experiment. Practically, the limewater turn CHALKY. This shows that we are correct. What we can explain is that the carbon dioxide produce actually created a force to push itself through the oil. Remember my lava lamp experiment? Bubbles (carbon dioxide) will reach the top layer of the oil and burst, hence releasing the carbon dioxide gas into the space of the boiling tube which then bubbled into the limewater to make it chalky. This is also the reason that my lava lamp will have coloured bubbles passing through the oil. When the carbon dioxide burst, the colour carried with the carbon dioxide will sink down (due to gravity pull).

However diffusion of oxygen from the air do not have such force to push its way into the yeast and glucose suspension.

Conclusion : Limewater will turn chalky as the anaerobic respiration produce carbon dioxide and this exert a force which allow it to pass through the oil and bubbled into the limewater. Whereas diffusion of oxygen do not have a force to allow it to pass through the oil and hence this demostrated an anaerobic respiration.

Making your own lava lamp

Hmm I have tried this before but is not using what is written in the website. They uses Alka-Seltzer tablet which I am not sure what is that. Should be those fizzy tablet that can be dissolve to make a drink. You can click on the link and follow their procedure.

My way is to add oil to fill up 1/2 of the conical flask then add vinegar (with food colouring to colour it) to fill up to 3/4. I do leave some space as when it bubbles the carbon dioxide produced need space. I also did not cap it as the carbon dioxide produce will push my cap/stopper out. So I am not sure why they can cap the tube. Most probably the reaction have ended, but then if ended you can't really see bubbles in the oil unless you shake it. Add a few spatula of baking soda into the mixture. It will react with the vinegar to make tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles attached themselves to the blobs of coloured vinegar and cause them to float to the surface. When the bubbles popped, the colour blobs sank back to the bottom of the bottle. This look like a lava lamp which does not cost you much. So try it out yourself!

However the cons is that it only works if you add in the baking soda or the fizzy tablet and there is a saturation point where additional of these substance will not produce the cardon dioxide anymore.

The theory of quicksand

I think most of you know quicksand is a gooey stuff that grabs a hold of its victim and swallows them alive! So, what is quicksand and how does it really work? I learn this from a teacher and happen to find a website that exactly describing this experiment, therefore to know more info on it just click the link and I think there is a video on it too.

This theory can be shown in a simple experiment. Firstly, get a cup of cornstarch (easily available in the supermarket) pour it in a shallow plate. Add half a cup of water slowly to the flour and mix it until you get something like the picture on the left. If is too watery you can add more cornstarch or just left it there to dry (but take a longer time). Remember this will dry up to form a solid so never pour this in the drain and clog it. Throw it in a rubbish bin. However you can also keep using it by adding water to it so you do not need mix it again to show this experiment.

You can try to punch your mixture, you will feel that it feel like solid as you are forcing the starch molecules to become close together as water is trapped between the starch chain. When you just touch gently, the cornstarch will flows again.

All fluids have a property known as viscosity - the measurable thickness or resistance to flow in a fluid. Newton said that viscosity is a function of temperature. You can observe that heated honey has viscosity less than the cold honey. The cornstarch and water mixture and quicksand are both examples of non-Newtonian fluids because their viscosity changes when stress or a force is applied and not due to the temperature.

Quicksand is created when water floods or saturates an area of loose sand and the sand is begins to move around. Think of quicksand as a soupy mixture of sand and water that is constantly being stirred. When the water in the sandy soil cannot escape, it creates a liquid-like soil that can no longer support any weight. If an excessive amount of water flows through the sand, it forces the sand particles apart. This separation of particles causes the ground to loosen, and any weight on the sand will begin to sink through it.

So this experiment is to shows the behavior of quicksand, as the cornstarch is like the sand which is flooded with water. This also tell us that when we encounter quicksand do not force yourself to get out of it as the greater the force you applied the harder the sand will be and your leg will get stuck even more. So one way is to relax wait for it to soften then move it out. Another way is to lie on your back to keep yourself afloat and slowly paddle. Actually I saw this in the website however I don't really encourage it as who know you may get panick and increase your force end up you may sink even more.

Endothermic reaction

I think most of you have heard of what is endothermic reaction. It is a chemical reaction when heat is taken in and end up the container that contain the chemical will be very cold.

Today this experiment is to show that when 2 chemical react the endothermic reaction can actually freeze a thin film of water on the wooden block and then the beaker can actually stick onto the wooden block.

This experiment is very easy. All you need is Barium hydroxide (app 2-4g) and Ammonium thiocyanate (app 2-4g). Mix both together with a bit of deionised water soon (ard 1min), you can see that the film of water actually freeze and stick on the beaker. (definately is not surface tension as we tried to push the block slightly, it still will not drop).

We tried subsituite Barium hydroxide with Calcium hydroxide but it will not work even though you can feel the coldness around the beaker. So try it out yourself if you do not believe it.

Is that magic?

Is amazing right? But is not a magic, it is due to some chemical reaction which allows it to change colour continuously. Firstly have to special thanks to NUS High School as this experiement is learnt from them.

To do it, you need to have license to purchase the chemical and you have know how to calculate concentration of the solution. As the concentration of the solution is important to allow the reaction to happen. Lastly, I have to apologise that my video is not vertical as I do not know how to adjust the video from my blog. The video is actually showing a conical flask on a magnetic stirrer and it will continue to change colour without adding anything to it.

So to perform this "magic" you will need to prepare 3 kind of solution (solution A, B, C).

Solution A : 4M of hydrogen peroxide

Solution B : Add 21.5g potassium iodate, add approximately 400ml of distilled water and finally add 2.15ml of concentrated sulphuric acid and then top up to 500ml with distilled water. This gives you 500ml of solution with 0.2M potassium iodate in 0.077M sulphuric acid.

Solution C : Dissolve 8g of malonic acid and 1.7g of manganese (II) sulphatemonohydrate in approximately 25oml of distilled water. Add in 30ml of 0.5% soluble starch solution into the mixture. Finally top up to 500ml with distilled water. This will gives you 500ml of solution with 0.15M malonic acid and 0.02M manganese (II) sulphate.

500ml of each solution is made. However if you do not have such a big conical flask (need at least 2L conical flask). You can just take 200ml of each.

Firstly we will mix 200ml of solution A and 200ml of solution B into a big conical flask with magnetic stirrer. Keep stirring it and then pour 200ml of solution C into the mixture.

This step will start the magic, the solution will turn from colourless to amber and then blue black. The exact theory is not known. But it is may due to the hydrogen peroxide causes the iodate to become iodine so the solution turns form colourless to amble or brown. Then the iodine will react with the starch present to turn the solution to blue-black. However I am not sure why it turns colourless again, maybe the iodine will dissappear again and later come out again? Anyway this reaction do not last forever. It will remain dark blue after stirring for more than 10 min.

A silicon jungle

Hmm wondering what is that? I am actually growing a jungle of chemical. I have seen people using gel and then put those macaroni into it and sell it as souvenir. Maybe now they can try selling this. Supposely the water should gel up however mine is still waterery however my crystal is still able to grow in it.

This is how you can make it.

1- Add 20ml of waterglass (is some form of silica, I just told my saleman and they just get it for me) with 20ml of water mix them in a cup.

2- Then prepare another cup with 10ml HCl (I am not sure about the concentration of HCl as the book did not specify, but I used 1M HCl) and 10ml of water.

3- Pour the mixture from both cup into another cup at the same time so that both mixture can mix. You can add sand in it to make a base. However when I add it in my clear waterglass turn yellow.

4- Thereafter, you can add crystal into it and when it dissolve, the part will be solidify. This will seem that the crystal is growing. However the cup cannot be disturb if not the strand that grow will break due to the movement of the liquid.

So it may not be feasible if selling it as souvenir if not when customer bring it back the "shoot" may break off. Actually mine have some broken off already, that why you can't really see the shoot. Or maybe prepack the mixture, so customer can do it at home by mixing the 2 mixture themselve and then add in the different kind of crystal provided.

This can only be done in school as the things needed is not available outside.

My circuit experiment

This shows that my bulb is working fine without the magnet and electromagnet.

My electromagnet is able to attract an iron plate. Therefore it tell us that our battery strength is enough to magnetise the electromagnet.

This shows that with a magnet our electromagnet is still able to get magnetise. So the magnet does not affect it. So now here is a video that shows the whole circuit. Actually my theory is correct. Bulb will light up and the electromagnet will also get magnetise. However the strength of magnetism of the electromagnet is not as strong as I can only pick up the iron plate for a while then it dropped. Not like the previous one where my iron plate is able to attract to my electromagnet.

Circuit with a magnet

Hmm I encounter this circuit while teaching science to my Primary 5 student. To me, this circuit should be able to light up the bulb and turn the electromagnet (Iron nail coiled with copper wire)into a magnet when the switch is on. This is because it is a closed circuit as magnet is a conductor of electricity.

However my student ask me will the magnetism of the magnet affect the flow of electricity and affect the bulb and the electromagnet? I told her will not. However I wasn't too confirm about it at that point of time, so I intend to try this circuit in my lab to confirm it.

Add vinegar when dyeing egg?

Hi, have you wondered why some people add vinegar to the dye when dyeing egg? Let me explain to you. The egg shell is makeup of calcium carbonate. Covering the surface is a layer of cuticle which is a kind of protein. Protein contain amino group (NH2) which will bind to the carboxylate (-COO=) or the sulphonate (-SO3H) group that is present in the food dye and form a salt linkages. This enable the dye to attach to the egg shell.

Based on the above theory, vinegar which is acidic in nature provides hydrogen ions (H+) which combine with the amino group (NH2) to form NH3. This create more reactive sites for salt linkage. Whereas if the dye is alkaline,less dye will be adhered to the egg.

If you do not believe, try this at home. Add 100ml of vinegar, 10ml of dye and top up with water to 500ml. Make another pot of dye using only 10ml of dye and top up to 500ml of water and the last one by adding 5g of baking soda with 10ml of dye and top up to 500ml of water. This experiment is to test whether the pH of the dye will affect the colour of the egg. You should get a darker egg when it is soaked in the pot with vinegar and the lightest egg will be the one that is soaked in the dye that contain baking soda.

A kit to tell whether your foetus is boy or girl?

Actually I was looking for info to find out how a pregnancy kit works but then saw this website about this kit that can help to detect whether your foetus is boy or girl really amaze me. A pregnancy kit works by detecting the presence of hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin) that is produced from a growing embryo. Normally it can only be detected a week after conception.

It works by mixing your urine with a conjugated antibody (or we can say an antibody that gives a signal). If your urine contain hCG, it will bind to the antibody and then attached itself on the immobilised antibody that is embedded on the front of the kit and this conjugated antibody will show a band at the area.If there is no hCG, these conjugated antibody will continue to flow toward the end of the pregnancy kit and bind on the antigen (can be human Chrionic Gonadotrophin) that is embedded on the kit. This will shows a band at the end of the kit which is the negative control. In conclusion, it tells us that if 2 bands are shown, congratuation! You are pregnant. But if only one negative band is shown mean you are not pregnant. If no band is shown mean that this kit is not working as it may not have enough conjugated antibody to show the signal.

So after pregnant, sure anxious about it sex right. Forget about those ultrasound scan which is so difficult to see and not specific. Now there is a kit where you can know the sex of your baby when you are just 10 week pregnant. I am not sure whether this kit is sold in Singapore or not as I just happen to see it in the net. It determine the sex of the foetus by looking for the Y chromosomal DNA in the mother blood using real time PCR. For your information, a male foetus have XY chromosome and female foetus have XX chromosome. So aren't we detecting mother cell instead of baby cells? No. It is because fetal cell will die and pass into the bloodstream of the mother. Furthermore mother do not have Y chromosome, so once Y chromosome is detected, it can be sure that it is from your fetus. For those who are interested to buy you can visit this website: http://www.tellmepinkorblue.com/. I am not sure whether they import to Singapore or not but is really not cheap (cost USD244). If really too much trouble then just wait patiently and let your doctor detect for you bah:)

Glofish

Hello. Are these fishes nice? It may look normal in this picture but do you know that it will glow in the dark.

These fishes are known as glofish®. They are available in three stunningly beautiful colors: Starfire Red™, Electric Green™, and Sunburst Orange™.Scientist create them for research. They originate from zebrafish. Zebrafish have been used in the genetics, molecular biology and vertebrate development. It also help scientist to understand cellular disease, cancer and gene therapy.

It is created by adding a fluorescence gene to the zebrafish gene in the fish egg. Once developed, the fish will then mature to become a fluorescence fish and their offspring will also inherited the gene and will also fluoresce. At this moment, this fish will fluoresce continuously. Researcher is now undergoing research to make this fish to detect the presence of environmental toxins in the water. They hope to produce a fish that will fluoresce when the water contain toxin and when the water is safe, it will not fluoresce.

However it is not sold in Singapore however from their website it mention that they do work with Carolina Biological Supply Company and I do know a saleman from there. But I did not ask whether he can import the fish for us or not as I do not intend to buy. Anyway here is just a brief introduction on glofish which I happen to know and share with you all. For more information, you can go to this website : www.glofish.com and also special thanks to them for the picture of the glofish.

More about me

I have a tuition agency to look for smart kid. So if you think you are a smart kid then email me and join us as a tutor if you are not a smart kid, we have smart kid to transform you to become one.Anyway even you are not keen on tuition but want to be a smart kid, do drop by to my blog and have a look at some interesting experiment and propose them to your teacher and make them think that you are so smart to come out with these interesting experiment which can fascinate your classmate.

I work as a lab technician in a high school located at the west of Singapore. I have encounter lots of interesting experiment either from internet, propose from teacher or from books. I great thing about my job is that I can have the access to all those chemical which cannot be bought on the shelf (as chemical are hazardous, only with license or for academic purpose then is allowed to buy).The reason I post it on my blog is to allow more people to be more interested in science and it is such a waste for not sharing my smart brain with others to make them smart.

It also allow me to have a chance to interact with people with interesting experiment too. So that I can propose them to my science head and they may think I am real too smart.Hahaha. So don be stingy if you come across any interesting experiment share it in my blog with other and let us become SMARTER kids.Oops forgot that it has been years that I am not a kid anymore. Hee hee sorry still so thick skin to called myself a "kid".