Mega Strength... or Science

This science experiment was great for our super hero week and it was part of the lesson I found at education.com

To set my heroes up for this activity I talked up Jerry and his strength.

He put his fists together, one on top of the other and pressed them together.

I told the kids there is no way anybody could get his hands apart because he his very strong.

For an example I tried to separate his hands and couldn't get them apart.

(I did this on purpose for effect. I tried pulling up.)

Then the heroes tried.

They put their finger tips on the sides of his hands and pushed his fists horizontally.

And his hands came apart!

Why it works: science!

There are two forces in play here, horizontal and vertical. When pressing your fists together you are applying vertical force. You are unable to apply both horizontal and vertical forces at the same time, therefore when a horizontal force is applied the hands come apart easily. Making it seem like the kids are really strong.

This experiment must be done with the elbows close to the body, not with the arms at a 90 degree angle.

The Dragons and Jerry did this experiment over and over again testing out their super powers!

Thanks for reading and check out more of my super hero activities here.

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