Comic ScienceLots of your favorite movie and television superheroes got their start in comic books! Celebrate Comic Book Day by trying these fun super-science experiments!

Use inertia to channel super-fast reflexes like Quicksilver and The Flash!

Collect• Tall cup, filled 3/4 with water

• 1 egg

• Cardboard tube

• Aluminum pie pan

1. Place the cup on a flat surface and lay the pie tin on top of the cup.

2. Sit the cardboard tube upright in the middle of the pan, lining it up so that the tube is directly over the opening of the cup. Gently place the egg on top of the tube.

3. Hold your hand out flat so your palm is facing the cup/pan/tube/egg tower. Quickly hit the pan with the palm of your hand and observe what happens.

Inertia is the resistance of an object to a change in its state of motion or rest unless acted on by an outside force. The egg

sitting on top of the tube has a certain amount of inertia and it doesn’t want to move sideways when the pan gets

knocked out from beneath it. As long as you move fast enough, since there’s nothing to support it, the egg should fall

straight down into the cup filled with water.

Quicksilver and The Flash don’t have to use inertia for this science trick because they are both known for their super

human speed. How much faster are they than regular humans? An average person can run a little over 20 miles per hour

and one of the fastest humans, Usain Bolt, can run 28 miles per hour. This might seem fast, but these superheroes are

thought to run close to the speed of light!

See if you have super-strength just like the Hulk and the Thing!Caution should be exercised with this experiment! You should only do this experiment with proper adult supervision.

Collect• Brick

• Hammer

• Adult safety partner!

1. Lay your hand across a table with your palm facing up.

601 Light Street Baltimore, MD 21230 • www.marylandsciencecenter.org

2. Place a brick flat across your palm.

3. When you are ready, have your adult safety partner hit the brick with the hammer, using moderate force.

Observe what happens.

Hint: Adults—don’t try to break the block, just demonstrate that the hand under the brick feels no pain.

One of Sir Issac Newton’s laws of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can

see this law in action during this experiment. When you hit the brick with the hammer, the brick pushes back in the

opposite direction equally hard. The brick has a lot of mass, and it resists the force of the hammer and your hand

doesn’t get smashed!

Both these heroes gained their super-strength after being exposed to radiation, but don’t worry, for this experiment

you only need Newton’s law to keep you safe! Before becoming the Hulk, Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation

from a gamma bomb, while Ben Grimm became the Thing after being exposed to cosmic radiation in outer space.

Find out how Tony Stark uses an electromagnet to keep him safe!

Collect• D battery

• 2 feet of thin copper wire, coated

• Wire strippers

• Long iron nail

• Rubber band

• Iron filings or paper clips

1. Wrap the copper wire around the nail to make a tight coil. Make sure to leave about 6 inches loose on either side of the nail. Use the wire strippers to remove the plastic coating from the ends of the loose wire.

2. Place the end of one wire against the positive “+” side of the battery (the side with the bump). Place the other end of the wire against the negative “—” side of the battery (the flat side). Hint: The wire may get warm as the current runs through it. To protect your fingers, wrap the rubber band around the battery to hold the ends of the wire in place.

3. If you’re using iron filings, sprinkle a little pile on a piece of paper. If you’re using paper clips, lay out a few on the table.

4. Hold the end of the nail close to the filings or paper clips and observe what happens.

An electromagnet is a magnet created through electricity. When the coil of wire is attached to the battery, a current runs

through the wire. This generates a magnetic field. Your electromagnet should have been strong enough to attract the iron filings.

While Tony Stark is trapped in a cave, he builds an electromagnet from everyday materials like a car battery to keep

metal shrapnel away from his heart. Even after he develops the mini-arc reactor to power his Iron Main suit, it’s still the

electromagnet that keeps him safe.

Comic ScienceLots of your favorite movie and television superheroes got their start in comic books! Celebrate Comic Book Day by trying these fun super-science experiments!

Use inertia to channel super-fast reflexes like Quicksilver and The Flash!

Collect• Tall cup, filled 3/4 with water

• 1 egg

• Cardboard tube

• Aluminum pie pan

1. Place the cup on a flat surface and lay the pie tin on top of the cup.

2. Sit the cardboard tube upright in the middle of the pan, lining it up so that the tube is directly over the opening of the cup. Gently place the egg on top of the tube.

3. Hold your hand out flat so your palm is facing the cup/pan/tube/egg tower. Quickly hit the pan with the palm of your hand and observe what happens.

Inertia is the resistance of an object to a change in its state of motion or rest unless acted on by an outside force. The egg

sitting on top of the tube has a certain amount of inertia and it doesn’t want to move sideways when the pan gets

knocked out from beneath it. As long as you move fast enough, since there’s nothing to support it, the egg should fall

straight down into the cup filled with water.

Quicksilver and The Flash don’t have to use inertia for this science trick because they are both known for their super

human speed. How much faster are they than regular humans? An average person can run a little over 20 miles per hour

and one of the fastest humans, Usain Bolt, can run 28 miles per hour. This might seem fast, but these superheroes are

thought to run close to the speed of light!

See if you have super-strength just like the Hulk and the Thing!Caution should be exercised with this experiment! You should only do this experiment with proper adult supervision.

Collect• Brick

• Hammer

• Adult safety partner!

1. Lay your hand across a table with your palm facing up.

2. Place a brick flat across your palm.

3. When you are ready, have your adult safety partner hit the brick with the hammer, using moderate force.

Observe what happens.

Hint: Adults—don’t try to break the block, just demonstrate that the hand under the brick feels no pain.

One of Sir Issac Newton’s laws of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can

see this law in action during this experiment. When you hit the brick with the hammer, the brick pushes back in the

opposite direction equally hard. The brick has a lot of mass, and it resists the force of the hammer and your hand

doesn’t get smashed!

Both these heroes gained their super-strength after being exposed to radiation, but don’t worry, for this experiment

you only need Newton’s law to keep you safe! Before becoming the Hulk, Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation

from a gamma bomb, while Ben Grimm became the Thing after being exposed to cosmic radiation in outer space.

Find out how Tony Stark uses an electromagnet to keep him safe!

Collect• D battery

• 2 feet of thin copper wire, coated

• Wire strippers

• Long iron nail

• Rubber band

• Iron filings or paper clips

1. Wrap the copper wire around the nail to make a tight coil. Make sure to leave about 6 inches loose on either side of the nail. Use the wire strippers to remove the plastic coating from the ends of the loose wire.

2. Place the end of one wire against the positive “+” side of the battery (the side with the bump). Place the other end of the wire against the negative “—” side of the battery (the flat side). Hint: The wire may get warm as the current runs through it. To protect your fingers, wrap the rubber band around the battery to hold the ends of the wire in place.

3. If you’re using iron filings, sprinkle a little pile on a piece of paper. If you’re using paper clips, lay out a few on the table.

4. Hold the end of the nail close to the filings or paper clips and observe what happens.

An electromagnet is a magnet created through electricity. When the coil of wire is attached to the battery, a current runs

through the wire. This generates a magnetic field. Your electromagnet should have been strong enough to attract the iron filings.

While Tony Stark is trapped in a cave, he builds an electromagnet from everyday materials like a car battery to keep

metal shrapnel away from his heart. Even after he develops the mini-arc reactor to power his Iron Main suit, it’s still the

electromagnet that keeps him safe.

601 Light Street Baltimore, MD 21230 • www.marylandsciencecenter.org