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Library mess is in the name of science
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Librarian John Yingling entertained a group of guests at the Boardman Library on Jan. 26, showing off a wealth of science demonstrations and experiments. Yingling showed the power of kinetic energy with a key trick. When Yingling let go of his string, the power of kinetic energy made the string twist around the pencil instead of the heavy keys simply falling to the ground.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Librarian John Yingling completed a fun, foamy experiment called "Elephant Toothpaste" by carefully mixing Hydrogen peroxide, soap, food coloring, and active yeast.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Yingling explained unbalanced forces with a trick called "Marshmallow Fluff Tube." The librarian placed a marshmallow in a tube, one near the end of the tube, the other nearer to his mouth in the tube. The marshmallow near his mouth flew farther because the air in the tube had less time to experience friction and slow down.
By SARAH FOOR
Boardman librarian John Yingling had no qualms in making a mess on Jan. 26 – all in the name of science.
During his “It’s Ooey, It’s Gooey, It’s Science” event, Yingling simultaneously entertained his guests and tackled tough scientific subjects with an array of experiments and demonstrations.
An early demonstration included bouncing a ping-pong ball on top of a golf ball. Yingling explained the concepts of potential and kinetic energy and explained how kinetic energy transfer made the ping-pong ball bounce higher with the aid of the golf ball.
During many of his experiments, Yingling stressed the importance of scientific inquiry.
“The fun of science is all about scientific inquiry. Just try something and see if it does what you want. The process starts with asking a question, experimenting, asking more questions and drawing a conclusion from your research,” Yingling explained to his young guests.
The scientist/librarian also tackled subjects like unbalanced forces, centripetal forces, density and exothermic reactions.
An experiment called “elephant toothpaste” had Yingling carefully mixing hydrogen peroxide, soap, food coloring and active yeast in a liter plastic bottle. Within moments of adding the yeast, a foamy liquid crept from the opening of the bottle, looking very much like a giant tube of toothpaste.
Yingling gave his guests a booklet showing how to complete all of his experiments at home, but stressed the importance of parental supervision when dealing with any volatile substances.
“I found all of the ideas for my experiments right here in the library. We have lots of books with fun things to try,” the librarian stressed.