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Absorption
Balancing & Gravity
Bending Light
Bouncing & Reflecting Light
Curious Colours
Electricity
Floating & Sinking
Heat
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Mixing & Separating
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Bending Light Experiment

Bending Pencil

Materials you will need: • Pencil • Water • Clear Glass or Jar Light can play tricks on your eyes! This is a very fast and easy experiment.

Steps:

1.  Fill the glass or jar half way with water.
2.  Place the pencil in the water.
3.  Look at the pencil from the top.
4. Look at the pencil from the bottom
5. Look at the pencil from the sides.

Straight or bent?  What happens when you look at the pencil through the side of the glass?  Light play tricks on your eyes.  The pencil looks bent.  This is because light travels slower through water than through air.  As the light enters the glass of water it slows down(changes direction) and as it leaves the glass it speeds up again – therefore making the pencil look bent!

Kids Science Experiments & Science ProjectsCategories:

Absorption	Balancing & Gravity	Bending Light	Bouncing & Reflecting Light
Curious Colors	Electricity (Charging Up)	Floating & Sinking	Heat
Magnetic Attractions	Matter	Mixing & Separating	Pressure
Reaction (Getting a)	Starting & Stopping	Surface Tension	Surprising Senses
Temperature	Science Facts	Materials & Properties	Plants & Flowers