STEM @ Home

#LearningNeverStops

Texas A&M University at Qatar invites you to create your own science and engineering experiments at home. Follow along with the videos below, and check back often for new topics.

Is there a topic you’d like to know more about? An experiment you’ve always wanted to see? Send your tips, ideas and questions to [email protected].

Join Benjamin, a STEM outreach expert at Texas A&M University at Qatar, for some fun projects, experiments and fun builds you can do at home.

Have you ever gotten a shock after walking across the carpet? Find out why in this video where Benjamin explains how static electricity works by showing you the triboelectric scale of materials.

If you’ve made slime, then you’ve made a crosslinked polymer. Watch how three polymers made of the same material have different physical properties by changing the length of their polymer chains.

Challenge your friends to see who can inflate a bag the fastest. What you don’t know is that by using the Bernoulli effect of fast-moving fluids, you can win every time.

Are you getting enough iron in your diet? With some strong magnets, you can see which foods contain a large amount of iron — the hard metal that you’re actually eating every day.

Hydrophobic materials are substances that “fear” water due to their chemical makeup. Watch how sand coated in a chemical that repels water acts underwater.

Using the Coandă Effect, you can trap objects in a fast-moving stream of air from a table straw or a hair dryer. Watch how these floating objects seem to defy gravity.

What is the shape of a smoke ring? And does it spin? Find out using some simple smoke ring devices you can build, and experiment on what happens when you change the shape of the ring.

You don’t need wings to make something fly, you just need a way to create a lifting force. By using the Bernoulli Effect with some spinning plastic cups, you can create your own lofty flyer.

Inks are a mixture of different chemicals that you can separate using paper chromatography. Experiment with different mobile and stationary phases to separate complex mixtures of chemicals just like a real chemist.

There’s a lot of air pushing down on us but we don’t feel it. But what if we removed that air, what would happen? Find out when we use balloons in a vacuum chamber to learn about atmospheric air pressure.

Simple electric motors can by built using materials found in most homes. Using small batteries, magnets, paperclips and wire, you too and build incredibly simple motors to demonstrate the electromagnetic effect.

Ever notice how dancers move their arms to create more spin? Learn why this works and how angular momentum is conserved in a simple experiment using a spinning stool.

Ever try to rotate a spinning wheel? It’s harder than it looks because of the conservation of angular momentum. Learn about the creation of torque using the right-hand rule using a bicycle wheel.

Why does washing your hands with soap work in preventing the spread of disease? Watch how Benjamin demonstrates how soap and water work to break up fats and oils.

Every notice that your clothes seem brighter when clean and in the sunlight? Detergents use chemicals that use fluorescence to make them glow under ultraviolet light. You’ll be amazed at how many substances around you are actually glowing.

“Every contact leaves a trace” is a founding principle of criminal science. See how Benjamin uses this saying to prove that washing yourhands is a great way to prevent the spread of disease.

Benjamin takes you through the process of robotics kit that includes programming and mechanical engineering to show you how much fun these introductory kits can be.