"Don't kill the pickle!" begged the audience of 4th and 5th graders. The hapless, failed cucumber was impaled on two spikes. Then, leaving no doubt as to cruel and unusual punishment, 120 Volts were applied. Five seconds of silence followed. Then "sizzle"! The pickle began to glow orange, spraying sparks off the stage and also creating an unpleasant smell. The kids loved it.

On Thursday, February 23, SPS performed a "Physics is Fun" show at Williams Elementary School. SPS members had so many physics demonstrations to share that they actually ran out of time. A simple demonstration like Minski's Cannon, in which a bouncing basketball transfers its momentum to a light ball sitting atop it and causes the light ball to bounce unexpectedly high into the air, was an example of a physics experiment that could be performed at home.

There were also more expensive setups like the Van de Graaff generator, which most people don't have lying in a corner of their garage. The crackling sound of electricity and the sight of current flowing in the air from the charged metal globe of the Van de Graaff to the demonstrator's wand filled the audience with the sort of awe that people generally accord to something that might end their lives in a sudden, toasty manner. Imagine their reaction when the demonstrator, Chris, nonchalantly held his fist a few inches from the globe.

Despite the current flowing to his fist, Chris apparently was fine, and many children cried out, "Pick me!" when he asked for a volunteer. One boy held his hand toward the Van de Graaff, screwing up his face with the anticipation of a shock. Losing his nerve momentarily, he snatched his hand away, much to the amusement of himself and his classmates. However, he put his hand back and, receiving a pleasant little shock (if shocks can be pleasant), returned triumphantly to his seat.

The Van de Graaff was not the only demo in which SPS members called for volunteers. Audience participation was encouraged as much as possible. Two girls tried to pull apart an electromagnet and found that they couldn't when the electricity was on. Another girl blew a beach ball several feet away from a jet of air and discovered that the ball was still stable and floating as a consequence of Bernoulli's principle. When students couldn't come on stage, the demonstrators brought the exhibits to them. Jacob passed around the tortured remains of the pickle and Michael let children play two slightly off-pitch xylophone keys that demonstrated the phenomenon of frequency beats.

The show ended with a bang - or rather, several. Chris hugged an air cannon, a modified garbage can, to his side and thumped the cloth that was stretched over its top, sending out huge gusts of air as much as 40-60 feet. The effect of the invisible "whomp" of air moving across the unsuspecting audience could be seen as Chris directed his aim around the room and received shouts of happy surprise from the columns of people in his path.

Present at the "Physics is Fun" Show were SPS members Brad, Cathy, Chris, Jacob, and Michael. A clip of excerpts from the show is available at the UF SPS website.