Mr. Wizard's World

PEPPER”S GHOST ILLUSION – Mr. Wizard shows Christian how he disappeared from his image into that of a skeleton, one of Mr. Wizard’s Favorite illusions. FREE FALL WATER - Mr. Wizard holds a plastic wastebasket of water with holes at the bottom plugged with bolts. He removes one of the bolts and the water comes out. Esther says gravity is pulling it down. During free fall the force of gravity will act on the water and wastebasket at the same time. What will happen if the bolts are removed and the wastebasket is dropped from the top of the slide. Esther says no water should come out. CREEK TRANSPLANT - This looks like any one of the hundreds of mountain streams in the Rocky Mountains but this section is different. It's man‑made. HIDDEN ORDER CARD TRICK - Nicola examines 13 cards, from the Ace to the King, lined up on the desk in a special hidden order. Nicola tries to find the order but can't. OSCILLOSCOPE ALARM - Darren sets off a burglar alarm as he enters the room. Mr. Wizard shows him an oscilloscope. Mr.Wizard will demonstrate how to make a Burglar Alarm. VAPOR TRAIL - Whenever you see an airplane leaving behind a white trail, you're watching the formation of an instant cloud. The exhaust of the plane and the agitation of the air as the plane flies through it, start the water condensing to form an instant cloud called a vapor trail. BALLOON PRESSURE - Mr. Wizard is holding a short plastic tube with a large air‑filled balloon at one end and a smaller balloon at the other. A clamp prevents the air from moving from one balloon to another. He shows Stacey how air pressure is measured.

ASH MINERALS - Michael holds a piece of newspaper with tongs over a candle. After the paper has burned, Mr. Wizard explains what is left behind are the minerals. MOLD - This invasion can start from one tiny spore, so small it's invisible. If the conditions of temperature and moisture are right, the invader can spread a network of filaments across its food. The invader can grow thousands of round spore cases that split apart to release millions of spores. That's what happens when a slice of bread is invaded by the plant you call a mold. OSCILLOSCOPE TIMER - With a flash camera Mr. Wizard takes Leila's picture. They are going to measure the duration of the flash with an oscilloscope. SUGAR CRYSTALS - Mr. Wizard shows Jason how to make sugar crystals. WHAT IS THIS ? - You no doubt have held this common mystery object in your hand many times, but you probably have no idea when. It's not a donut, but much, much smaller. It's the shell of a tiny marine animal. They grow together to form ball‑like dwellings for underwater plants. What is this? SPOOL ROLL - Mr. Wizard shows Darren a spool of ribbon. He pulls on the ribbon and the spool rolls forward. Then he pulls on the ribbon at a different angle. The spool rolls in the opposite direction. Mr. Wizard explains that when you pull at a fairly high angle, you are putting pressure on the spool above the center line and that makes it roll forward. At a lower angle, you are putting pressure on the other side which makes the spool roll in reverse. UNDERWATER PARK - You may have been to many parks, but you probably haven't been to a park like this one. It's all underwater. At the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park just south of Miami, Florida, scientists and amateur and professional divers can explore at the bottom of the sea. They use all sort of equipment, including mini submarines. RADIOMETER CHALLENGE - After watching the spinner inside a radiometer turn clockwise, Mr. Wizard challenges Nicola to make it go in the opposite direction. They discuss how heat radiated into the partially‑evacuated glass sphere is absorbed by the black sides of the spinner. The heat speeds up the air molecules next to the black sides giving them a push. As a result the spinner moves in a clockwise direction.

G-FORCES OCEAN MOTION - At an amusement park Stacey and Mr. Wizard discuss how she feels while on a ride that is, in effect, a giant swing. Mr. Wizard explains G‑forces as it relates to airplane pilots in dives. He explains G-Force AND Ocean Motion. LARGE WASHER thru SMALL HOLE - Mr. Wizard challenges Tanis to get a washer through a hole in a piece of paper. The hole is smaller than the washer. He folds the paper along the diameter of the hole and bends the paper. The washer falls through the now enlarged hole. PLANTS THAT EAT ANIMALS - You may have hiked in areas like this because they're found in the United States and Canada. You probably walked right by plants that eat animals. Time lapse photography speeds up what normally takes about 18 hours. An insect gets stuck in the dew on the plant. The plant’s tentacles bend over it and slowly digest the juices in the insect. FLOATING CORK - Eugene pours water into a glass with a cork with a nail inserted into it. Mr. Wizard challenges Eugene to float the cork in the center of the glass. The cork floats next to the sides of the glass in spite of his efforts to move it to the center. Mr. Wizard explains! AVALANCHE - One of the most terrifying things that can happen to a mountain climber or a skier is an avalanche. Wind, earth tremors, even walking across unstable snow can start the avalanche. As the snow slides down the side of the mountain, it picks up more snow and increases in speed. SPEAKING COMPUTER - The computer greets Leila with a generated voice. Mr. Wizard shows her how he programmed the computer to say words. STAR TRAILS - This looks like an abstract design of circles within circles. But it's a photograph of the night sky. CO2 EXTINGUISHER – Mr.Wizard shows Laurie how to make carbon dioxide by mixing baking soda and vinegar. The mixture fizzes with CO2 gas bubbles. She notes that it is invisible. Laurie pours the glass of CO2 over a lighted candle and watches the flame go out.

ULTRASONIC CLEANER - Mr. Wizard and Christian discuss supersonics and ultrasonics. Several demonstrations ensue. MANHOLE COVERS - You've seen manhole covers on the street many times. They're usually round. Why? Mr. Wizard explains the logical reason. JAR OVER CANDLE - Leila puts a jar over a lighted candle fixed in a bowl of water. The flame goes out and water rises up into the jar. The usual explanation is that the flame used up some of the oxygen in the air inside the jar and the atmospheric pressure pushed the water up to take the place of the oxygen. The explanation is wrong. Mr.Wizard explains. BICYCLE GEARS - Mr.Wizard shows how bicycle gears work. SUPPORT AND BALANCE - Mr.Wizard AND Stacey examine support and balance using knives and a cup. HARVESTING OYSTERS - The tide has gone out in the South Carolina inlet, so the men can inspect the oyster beds and mark them with saplings. Once the oysters were harvested by hand. But these men will harvest the oysters in a new way with a machine. BALLOON INTO A BOTTLE - Darren attempts to blow up a balloon inserted into a glass jar. He finds he can't do it because as the balloon expands, it blocks the air from escaping from the jar. Mr. Wizard puts a straw into the jar alongside of the balloon to solve the problem.

POTATO BATTERY - AJ notes that a quartz clock is not working because there is no battery. Mr.Wizard shows AJ how to create an electrical current using copper AND zinc electrodes, wires, salt, bleach, and a potato. CONNECT THE DOTS PUZZLE - Darren tries to connect nine dots in a square pattern without taking the pen off the paper. Mr. Wizard gives some helpful hints. HURRICANES – Mr.Wizard narrates as you're flying with a scientific crew on a dangerous mission: to fly through one of the most powerful storms, a hurricane, to record the information that will help forecasters predict where and when the storm will hit land. FLIGHT SIMULATOR - Jason is at the controls of a flying simulator program on the computer. The view on the monitor changes as Jason explains some of the dials. Mr. Wizard explains the program was designed to practice the various settings that control the flight of a plane. WATER DROP MICROSCOPE - Mr.Wizard shows Christian that a drop of water can magnify. They discuss how this is made possible by a transparent curved surface. RADAR GUN - In the park Mr. Wizard is aiming a radar gun at Michael riding his bicycle. They discuss how the instrument calculates speed by measuring the time it takes for invisible waves to reach a target and reflect back.

DELICATE BALANCE - Mr. Wizard shows Stacey how delicate a balance is by waving his hand over it. The balance registers the force of the moving air. They study several sensitive weight measurements. POTATO POP GUN - Mr. Wizard tells Jason that they will make a gun based on the same principle as the children's pop gun that shoots a cork at the end of the string. THE ZEBRA - Mr. Wizard narrates. Some people think a zebra is a horse with stripes but that's not quite accurate. He explains all the differences that make zebras unique animals. DENSITY FLOAT - Mr. Wizard asks Karen whether a cork or metal nut will float or sink in a glass of water. Karen predicts correctly that the cork will float and the nut will sink. The density of the object as well as the density of the liquid determines whether an object will float. MISSING PIECE OF CAKE - Nicola looks at a drawing of a cake with one piece missing. The missing piece is found by inverting the picture, which now appears to be a single piece of cake. Mr. Wizard explains that we look at the drawing as though looking down at a real cake on a table. When the drawing is inverted, we still consider the view to be looking down. OPPOSITE THREADS - You no doubt have twiddled your thumbs. What if you did the same thing with 2 threaded rods? Hold them so they can't rotate and keep their grooves intermeshed. Will the ends move apart, come closer, or stay the same distance from each other? COLORED FLAMES IN FIREWORKS - Mr. Wizard burns various chemicals in a cupcake liner to produce colored flames like those seen in fireworks. He also stresses the importance of potential danger and never to do this unsupervised.

SOUND ON A LIGHT BEAM – Mr. Wizard tells Stacey she is going to send sound over a light beam! He shows her a record player with sound coming from the speaker. The sound is recorded on the grooves. Watch as he shows her how to transmit sound over a beam of light. OPTICAL ILLUSION - Mr. Wizard shows Darren a line drawing of a 3D table and asks him to fit a real disk on the top of the drawing. The disk doesn’t seem to fit because the table is not square as perceived. Mr. Wizard explains. WIRED HOCKEY PLAYERS – Mr. Wizard narrates: At Michigan State University, Dr. John Downs, team physician for the ice hockey squad, set up a program to find out the keys to the players stress by wiring their chests with electrodes that measure the activity of the heart. BALLOON AND MARSHMALLOW IN VACUUM - Mr. Wizard and Nicola create a vacuum under a bell jar with a vacuum pump. They place marshmallows inside the jar. They expand as the pressure is lowered. When the pressure is returned to normal, the marshmallows collapse. MERRY-GO-ROUND WATER DRAIN - Mr. Wizard demonstrates to Jason when water goes down a drain in the Northern Hemisphere in rotates clockwise and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. He uses a playground merry-go-round to make his point clear. HOLE IN BOTTLE - Leila guesses that when a hole is made near the bottom of a plastic bottle, the water will spurt out about halfway across the sink. She punctures the bottle and is surprised to see that no water comes out of the hole. Mr. Wizard points out that no water can come out because no air can get in. When she pokes a hole near the top of the bottle, she predicts the water will dribble out of it. Instead, the water spurts out the bottom hole and bubbles indicate air is entering the hole near the top of the bottle. DIAMOND FIND - In Arkansas go to Crater Diamond State Park, the only diamond field in North America. It's similar to those in South Africa, but smaller. Pay an admission fee, start digging, and you, too, may find a diamond. ALUMINUM FOIL CLEANS SILVER - To clean silver, AJ puts a teaspoon of baking soda in a pan of water on the stove. He then adds a teaspoon of salt and stirs. Mr. Wizard explains placing the alumi­num foil at the bottom of pan and dipping a tarnished spoon partly into the liquid. The chemical reaction will remove the silver sulfide from the spoon and deposit it on the foil. It instantly cleans the tarnished silver spoon.

MOUSETRAP CHAIN REACTION: Mr. Wizard has prepared a large transparent box that contains 96 mousetraps which are set and ready to spring closed. There are two ping pong balls on each trap. He and Darren discuss a chain reaction and its importance in an atomic reactor. WHAT IS THIS?? This is the top of a plant you no doubt have eaten. The bud has been opened so you can see some of the parts inside. Eventually the parts would have grown into many fine branches that give the mature plant the look of a fern. MAGNIFY : Michael sees the gears of an alarm clock with the help of a close up lens on the video camera with the magnified image on the monitor. Mr. Wizard shows Michael various magnifying glasses he can use to see some of the same things they are about to see via the video setup. OPTICAL RANGE FINDER: In the park Mr. Wizard and Christopher discuss a rangefinder and how it works on some cameras. PIN INTO BALLOON: Jackie puts on safety glasses. Mr. Wizard has her stick pins into pieces of tape on an inflated balloon. In spite of the pins, the balloon does not break. When she sticks a pin into a section without the tape, the balloon bursts. FOSTERING PARENTS FOR BIRDS: Hopefully, the eggs will hatch into whooping cranes, birds that were common in Canada and the United States in the 1800’s. AIR AND WATER STREAMS: Christian pours a bottle of colored water into the sink. Mr. Wizard says he is actually pouring two fluids at the same time. They discuss the meaning of the word fluid, a substance that flows. Christian says air is also a fluid. They discuss dynamic and static pressure.

ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT - Mr. Wizard and Darren look at a rock under normal light and under ultraviolet light from a special lamp. They discuss the word ultraviolet. Darren describes ultra as very Violet and violet sort of like purple. BOTTLE - BALLOON-STEAM - Nicola inspects two bottles. One bottle is completely filled with an inflated balloon. The other has a balloon partially blown up. Mr. Wizard challenges Nicola to blow the second balloon up like the first. She tries and finds she can't do it. WHAT'S THIS?? - This is a magnified view of semi‑precious stones called garnets, which are often red, but can be almost any color. WASHER PICK UP FROM GLASS - Christian is holding two nickels against a drinking glass. He is supposed to both nickels into one hand without dropping them. He tries and fails. HOMEMADE MOTOR - Mr. Wizard shows Ashley an electric motor made from a magnet XE magnet, wire, and safety pins. To understand the principle of an electric motor, Ashley holds first one end and then the other of a bar magnet near a second magnet fastened to a small turntable. RIVER MODELING - U.S. Highway 220 (that's the curved white line) had been rerouted to keep it away from the river (that's the black area). But as a result of flooding caused by severe storms, the stream gradually moved back toward the new road. Another storm could possible wash it away and scientist figure out a way to rework the stream MIRROR SIGNAL - Stacey uses a mirror with a hole in it as a signal to reflect the sunlight at a distant object. Mr. Wizard shows her how to look through the hole to be certain that a person in the distance can see the reflection.

PAPER MOVIE MACHINES: Bibi watches Mr. Wizard swing a light in a circle to produce a streak of light. He explains that the so called persistence of vision is the reason motion pictures create the illusion of movement. DOLPHIN LANGUAGE: Dolphins are trained the same way you probably trained your pet. When it obeyed your command, you gave it praise or a bit of food. Once a dolphin associates a reward with doing something, the trainer precedes it with a command — a hand signal, for instance. Soon the dolphin recognizes the hand signal and responds with the desired behavior. HEAT EXPANSION: Darren knows that metals expand when heated and contract when cooled. Mr. Wizard shows him a block of wood with thumb tacks and a metal rod resting on a needle over another block of wood. A soda straw acts as a pointer to magnify the movement of the rod. ROPE ON WRIST - Jacki and Chris have ropes tying their hands together. The ropes loop so that the two children are tied together. Mr. Wizard challenges them to separate themselves. Chris tries and fails. PETRIFIED FOREST: The high plateau country of northeastern Arizona is mostly a semi‑arid land of hills, canyons, and plains. The plants and animals that live here are typical of desert‑dwelling species. But if you go to the right place, you'll come to a most unusual forest. Fallen logs, to be sure, but no longer made of wood. They've turned to stone or petrified. PAPER TEAR: Mr. Wizard hands Phil a piece of paper with two tears in it and challenges him to pull the paper apart ending up with three pieces. Phil pull the two end pieces and finds that he ends up with two pieces instead of three because he cannot put equal force on both tears. KILLDEER ACT: The nest on the ground is camouflaged but the eggs could be a quick meal for this black snake that feeds on birds eggs. Before the snake has found the nest, the mother killdeer flaps her wings to attract the snake’s attention. She flops around on the ground as if injured. The snake thinks it’s found an easy prey. Once it has been lured away, the killdeer returns to the nest. MOBILE CHALLENGE: Lauri examines a mobile made of pieces of wood of equal weight with holes drilled in them at equal distances. Mr. Wizard explains that she has to multiply the distance, represented by the holes, by the weight, represented by the number of sticks. Some of the sticks are covered by pieces of paper. By calculating the weight multiplied by the distance on one side of an arm of the mobile she calculates the value of the weight hidden under a piece of paper on the other side.

STEAM BREAKS CONTAINER: Christian explains how pressure is built up inside a pressure cooker. Mr. Wizard blows up a balloon by placing it on top and they watch it expand as steam flows into it. NAVEL ORANGES: You're looking at a fruit within a fruit. The one inside the ring is underdeveloped because back in the flowering stage, it was not properly fertilized. Instead of becoming seeds, it developed into a sort of second fruit. FRESNEL LENS: Mr. Wizard points out to Chris that there is a bucket of water in case of fire when they do the next experiment. Chris adjusts a glass lens to focus the image of the sun onto a piece of paper, burning a hole in it. They quickly start another fire with a large, thin, plastic Fresnel lens. Chris asks why the thin plastic lens works better than the thick glass one. Mr. Wizard suggests they go to his workshop. BALLOON ROCKET: In the park, Mr. Wizard and Darren blow up balloons. Darren releases one and it zooms away erratically. They discuss how the pressure inside forces the balloon to move in the opposite direction from the mouth. HOW MANY NORTH POLES? How many North Poles are there? Imaginary north south lines on a map all meet at a point called the geographic North Pole. North Pole #1. A compass points to the magnetic North Pole that at the present time is in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. That’s North Pole #2. Mr. Wizard shows many North Poles there are. COMPUTER TRIVIA: Jason shows Mr. Wizard a game he is playing on the computer. They take turns answering trivia questions. Jason notes that it is better than the board game based on a similar idea because it is easier than using cards or pegs, and you can play by yourself. SEA TURTLES: Ordinarily, you leave the beach when night falls but this night you stay to see an amazing sight. You have to wait for complete darkness because even the flame of a match will frighten off the visitor from the sea. There it is — a sea turtle. ULTRA VIOLET LIGHT DETECTION: Jackie is challenged to determine who has touched a piece of paper on the table, Mr. Wizard, Komo or Christian. All three say they didn't do it.

POTASSIUM NITRATE: He holds up a jar of white powder and asks her to identify the elements listed on the label: carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. He identifies the powder as table sugar and places a teaspoon of it onto the lid of a jar. He lights a match at the end of a long stick Komo is holding. She holds the match near to the sugar. WOOD INTO PAPER: You’ve written on sheets of paper like this without paying much attention to it even though you know it comes from something like this. How do you get this out of that? SNOW MELT: Scott measures 18 centimeters of loosely-packed snow in a glass and guesses that when melted, there will be 9 centimeters of water. TELESCOPES: Mr. Wizard shows Nicola a telescope made from cardboard tubes, tracing paper, and one lens from magnifying reading glasses. Nicola looks through it to see the upside-down-image of a book cover. SURFACE TENSION TRICKS: Darren examines a small piece of cardboard shaped like a boat with a slit in the back which holds a tiny piece of soap. When placed on the surface of a pan of water, the boat moves. Darren adds other cardboard boats and wonders what makes them move. HOSPITAL FOR STATUES: Stroll through a park and you could see a statue like this. Since this is the way most statues look, you may think it is the way it’s supposed to look. Actually, it should have a gleaming finish like this. That’s how a bronze statue looks when it’s first put into place. Mr. Wizard talks about what changes the appearance of the statue.

SMOKE RINGS: As a few drops of milk sink in a glass of water, Chris sees rings which Mr. Wizard identifies as vortex rings. TO DIG A MINE: Deep inside that Colorado mountain there’s a large supply of valuable ore. When it’s refined, it’s called molybdenum . One of its unusual properties is that it must be heated to an extremely high temperature before it melts. Added to steel, it produces very strong, long-lasting alloys that can withstand the heat of a jet airplane engine and the cold of Alaska. But how do you get that important metal, molybdenum, out from the inside of the mountain? Mr. Wizard and engineers explains. HOT VS. COLD WATER BOTTLES: On the counter are two transparent bottles of cold water and the two of hot water colored red. Stacey defines convection currents as the transfer of heat through the movement of liquids or gases. THREE PILE CARD TRICK: AJ picks a card (the Queen of Clubs) and places it back in the deck. Mr. Wizard explains he is going to do a simple card trick based on a scientific principle. COMPUTER REACTION TIMER - Mr. Wizard challenges Stacey to tell him when five seconds have elapsed. He has setup the computer so that it can be used as a high speed stop watch. With various trials she is able to start and stop the computer at close to 50 milliseconds or five seconds. ALLIGATOR: On a hike in a swamp in Georgia, you come across a mound that has been disturbed. In it you can see about 50 eggs. You better be careful, because the nest is guarded by the mother, an American alligator. VOLUME CHALLENGES: Mr. Wizard and Kenton discuss the concept of volume. Mr. Wizard has him pour red water from a pitcher into a container with a spout that empties into a smaller beaker.

FUN WITH SPARKS: Christian is watching long sparks jump between the points of two ice picks. Mr. Wizard explains that they are going to investigate high voltage electricity that has enough pressure to jump through the air. A spark that jumps a gap of 25 mm or 1 inch indicates a pressure of about 25,000 volts. COCKROACH: Why is it so hard to swat a cockroach? They seem to know when a blow is coming and scurry for cover. BURPING BOTTLE: Ashley pours a liquid into a funnel in a rubber stopper on a glass flask. The liquid at the top appears to be burping. CRYSTAL GARDEN: Jackie thinks there is mold growing on the objects on the table. Mr. Wizard agrees that it looks like mold, but is actually a form of crystals. MONITOR EXPEDITION: Modern scientific adventures actually began more than 100 years ago. That’s when one of the most famous naval battles of modern times was fought during the Civil War. The iron plated Merrimac of the South against the all iron Monitor of the North. Unfortunately, after the Civil War, the Monitor sank in a storm off the coast of North Carolina. See what they found. WHY DO BALLS CURVE?? Mr. Wizard throws a curve ball using a special tool called a throwing tube. He shows Stacey how the ball will spin as if a baseball pitcher is throwing it. FACE MASK: This man wearing a gas mask isn’t a man at all. It’s a computer graphic image of a face. MIRROR MICRO METER: Christian gives Mr. Wizard a couple of his hairs. Mr. Wizard tells him they are going to measure them using a micrometer. Christian defines micro as small and meter as measure.

IRON CLAD MAGNET: Ashley uses an electromagnet Mr. Wizard has made to explain how he (Ashley) has made one at home. They connect a battery and Ashley picks up a pile of paper clips with the electromagnet. Why do all except a few paperclips fall off?? WHAT'S THIS? From this angle you can see only half of this familiar seed. Each half is called a cotyledon. Food is stored in them to be used by the new plant until it can begin to produce food on its own. CATENARY ARCH: Maria places blocks together on a board to form an arch on its side. They carefully put the keystone in place. She slowly raises the board until it is vertical. SCIENTIFIC NOISE: Mr. Wizard briefly explains to Nicola that an oscilloscope is a device to make waves visible. He produces a sound that appears as a pure wave on the oscilloscope screen. Nicola turns on the radio tuned between stations. They hear so called white noise because it is made up of many frequencies. On the scope it appears as many jagged lines and compare to that on a radio. They discuss signal to sound ratio. RUBBER BAND CODE: Bibi examines a rubber band with black marks on it that are a secret message. Mr. Wizard stretches it to expand the marks into letters. She reads a secret message on the rubber band. MONO LAKE: A big, blue lake in the dry desert of eastern California. A welcome sight to a thirsty traveler but a disappointment. The water is saltier than the ocean. Despite its high salt content, Mono Lake has supported abundant wildlife for thousands of years. Tens of thousands of California gulls nest here and more than 60 other birds species stop at the lake on their migrations back and forth between Canada and South America. The outcome is discussed. TORSION BALANCE: Mr. Wizard and Leila look at a metal strip suspended horizontally with two C-clamps attached to the end. When pushed, it goes back and forth like a vertical pendulum would. STEAM ENGINE RUNS WITH C02: Mr. Wizard shows Ashley the various parts of a steam engine. They discuss how the piston is pushed by the steam.