British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Pearls of Water

Synopsis
This short film illustrates the effects of gravitational acceleration. The demonstration separates the horizontal and vertical motion of a jet of water as it moves through the air.
As the horizontal motion of the water drops remains constant, this demonstrates that there are no horizontal forces acting on the drops (other than negligible air resistance). By contrast, the further along the trajectory you look, the greater the vertical displacement between adjacent drops. This means that the drops are speeding up in the downwards direction, they are accelerating and must have a force acting on them. This force is due to gravity.
This resource, funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and the Royal Society of Chemistry, was produced following National Science & Engineering Week 2013, during which teachers and technicians nominated their favourite demonstrations to be turned into video resources with accompanying written guides. [6 minutes]
Series
Get Set Demonstrate
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Subjects
Chemistry; Education
Keywords
gravity; teaching materials

Online availability

URI
https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/34375/pearls-water
Price
Free
Delivery
Streamed/Download

Sponsor

Name

Gatsby Charitable Foundation

Distributor

Name

STEM Learning

Record Stats

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