Science | Science Experiment of the Week 5 | 256 - Half Full or Half Empty?

The Age Old Question is Answered - This week, we will take a look at an age old question and try to see it from a new angle. Seeing things from a different perspective is a very important skill in science.

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This Week's Experiment - #256 Half Full or Half Empty?

These experiments are from Robert Krampf - The Happy Scientist

This week, we will take a look at an age old question and try to see it from a new angle. Seeing things from a different perspective is a very important skill in science. To try this, you will need:

2 clear drinking glasses
a bucket or deep bowl
water

Place a glass on a flat surface and pour half a glass of water into it. Now, sit back and look at it. Just relax and observe it. Now for that age old question. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Think about it. The ideas behind this question is that someone with a positive attitude will see the glass as half full, while someone that has a negative view of life will see it as half empty. Which one is right? As we will see, they are both wrong!

It is best to do this part of the experiment outside or in the bathtub, as you will probably spill some water. (What fun would it be if you didn't splash a bit?) Fill the bucket about 3/4 full of water. (Is it 3/4 full or 1/4 empty?) Put one of the glasses into the bucket and allow it to fill with water. Once it is filled, turn it upside down. Both the optimist and the pessimist would have to agree that the glass is now full of water.

Take the second glass and hold it upside down, above the surface of the water. Lower it into the water, keeping it upside down. Push it down under the surface of the water. If you did this carefully, there should not be any water in the glass. That means that it is empty, right? No! If it was empty, the water would move in to fill the glass. Something is in the glass, taking up the space. What is it? Air, of course. If you tip the glass to the side, some of the air will spill out and bubble up to the surface. You can even catch these bubbles in the other glass, letting you pour the air from one glass to the other.

Let half of the air spill out of the glass and then look at it carefully. Is the glass half full or half empty? Neither, right? It is half full of water and half full of air. That means that the glass is always full, which to me sounds like a much more positive outlook, although it is better to have it full of .....oh, say....a chocolate milk shake. I am positive that I would like that.

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