Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
For answers to historical questions, please check out our sister community: !askhistorians@lemmy.world
view the rest of the comments
Jet fuel is way less volatile and way less dangerous than gasoline.
My high school science teacher took a container of jet fuel, poured it into a beaker, then suited up in a tin foil apron, face mask, safety everything, ducked behind his large lab bench at the front of the class, lit a popsicle stick on fire, grabbed it with tongs, and dropped it into the beaker while everyone in the front row scrambled. Made a big show of it. It went out without even a fizz.
Then he transferred it into a small spray bottle and aimed it at the same lit popsicle stick on the end of the same tongs and made a highly satisfying fireball.
Then he switched a shop vac from suck to blow, attached some kind of paint sprayer contraption, and made a giant flame thrower that scorched the ceiling tiles. It was awesome.
The next years’ classes didn’t get the same experience. Can’t imagine why.
High school science story time:
When I was in school, we had a gym teacher fill in for the chemistry teacher. Not as like, a substitute teacher for a day or a week or whatever, but due to some kind of staffing or budget issue the gym teacher taught that whole semester. His science background would have been what he learned in high school himself thirty years earlier, but he was a warm body that could read a textbook so that was good enough for the administration.
Anyway, there was this demonstration they'd do where they'd drop a chunk of sodium in water, and as an alkali metal it reacts with heat, sparks, and maybe a small explosion. Now, you're only supposed to use a tiny amount for the demonstration, so the teacher pulls out their chunk of sodium and cuts off a pea-sized piece for the experiment and wows everyone with the demonstration.
Every year you get at least one student who asks what happens if you used a larger piece. The chemistry teacher would explain about how the reaction scales up, and that it's too dangerous to perform in the classroom. But the gym teacher says, "Gee, I don't know. But this is supposed to be a science class, so let's do a science" and uses the entire supply of sodium.
So I wasn't actually in that class when it happened. I was in a classroom directly above the chemistry lab when there's an explosion that I'm sure could have been heard throughout the building. Incidentally, someone had called in a bomb threat a month or two earlier, either as a prank or to get out of exams or whatever. You can probably imagine the chaos in the classroom. Someone pulled the fire alarm and everyone evacuated, but I don't think anyone was actually hurt.
Anyway, there's still a hole in the ceiling tile and they don't do that experiment anymore.