Turn Your Home into a Laboratory: Hair Dryer and Flying Ping Pong Ball Experiment
Would you like to have fun with your children and teach them one of the basic rules of physics? This experiment is for you! All you need is a hair dryer, a ping pong ball and creativity.
As in our image, fathers and children come together and discover the power of air flow. Here is the "Gravity Defying Ball" experiment step by step:
Required Materials
1 hair dryer
1 ping pong ball
1 paper towel roll or similar long tube (optional, to make the experiment more complicated)
Step by Step Experiment Application
1. Preparation:
Plug the hair dryer into the outlet. Keep the ball nearby.
2. Starting Airflow:
Run the hair dryer on medium setting, vertically upwards.
3. Release the Ball:
Carefully drop the ping pong ball into the airflow directly above the hair dryer.
4. Observing the Miracle:
The ball will hang in the air and appear as if it is flying. The surprised faces of the fathers and the excitement of the children at this moment are the best part!
5. (Advanced) Giving Direction:
Children can try to direct the ball by changing the direction of the air flow with a paper roll or pipe, without touching the ball suspended in the air.
❓ How Does This Happen? (Bernouilli Principle)
The scientific truth behind this experiment is Bernoulli's Principle. The rapid airflow created by the hair dryer creates a low-pressure area around the ball. The stagnant air around the ball (higher pressure air) pushes on the ball to keep it inside this stream of lower pressure air. While gravity pulls the ball down, the air pressure difference keeps the ball up.
