WEEKEND SCIENCE: Fun with water, cooking oil and disposable chopsticks 週末科學版: 水、食用油及免洗筷的有趣實驗

This week we're going to try two experiments that both use water. Things might get messy, so make sure you do the experiments in a place that's easy to clean up.

What you will need:

Two cups that are the same size

Cooking oil

Water

A piece of cardboard

Disposable chopsticks

A NT$1 coin

(MICHAEL KEARNEY, STAFF WRITER)

本週我們要來嘗試兩個需要用到水的實驗，實驗過程可能會造成髒亂，所以務必在好清理的地方進行實驗。

所需材料︰

兩個大小一樣的杯子

食用油

水

一片硬紙板

免洗筷

一枚一元硬幣

（翻譯：袁星塵）

EXPERIMENT ONE 實驗一

1. Fill one cup with water, and the other with cooking oil. 2. Place a piece of cardboard over the cup of water. 3. Carefully flip over the cup of water and place it, along with the cardboard, on to the top of the glass of oil. 4. Slowly pull the piece of cardboard out of the middle while holding the two cups in place. Pull until there's a small crack between the two cups. 5. Watch as the water falls into the bottom cup and the oil goes up into the top cup.

1. 將一個杯子裝滿水，另一個杯子裝滿油。2. 將一片硬紙板放在裝水的杯子上。3. 小心地將裝水的杯子和那塊紙板一起翻過來，放到裝油的杯子上方。4. 不要碰晃到杯子，把隔擋在兩個杯子中間的那塊紙板慢慢抽出來，直到兩杯緣間出現一個小裂縫。5. 觀察水沉入下面那個杯子，而油跑到上面那個杯子的情況。

EXPERIMENT TWO 實驗二

1. Bend a wooden, disposable chopstick until it snaps. Be careful not to break it into two pieces, however. You should be able to see a lot of thin fibers at the break. 2. Place the chopstick over a cup. It should be in a tall "V" shape. Rest a NT$1 coin near the middle to top of the "V." Just the edges of the coin should be touching the chopstick. 3. Pour some water onto the chopstick at the break. The "V" should spread open, causing the coin to drop into the cup.

1. 把一根免洗木筷彎折到啪地一聲斷裂，但注意不要把它折斷成兩截。你應該會在折裂處看到很多細長的纖維。2. 把這根筷子放在一個杯子上，它應該是呈深V型。然後把一枚一元硬幣放在V型筷靠近中上端的位置，只有硬幣的邊緣可以接觸到筷子。3. 在筷子的斷裂處上倒一些水，這個V型應該會漸漸展開，使硬幣掉入杯中。