Hooked on Science: Screaming plastic cup

Using a few ingredients from around the house, you can create some noise that will teach the entire family about sound.

Materials

* Plastic cup

* String

* Sponge

* Water

Instructions

STEP 1: Have an adult use a knife to make a hole in the bottom of the plastic cup.

STEP 2: Cut about 2 feet of string and thread it through the hole in the cup.

STEP 3: Tie a knot in the string big enough so it will not pull out of the hole in the cup.

STEP 4: Wet the sponge and use it to grab the string close to the cup, then pull downward.

Explanation

You created vibrations in the string by moving the wet sponge along the string. These vibrations produced sound, which was amplified as it passed through the plastic cup. You can discover more hands-on experiments by going to www.hookedonscience.org.

Jason Lindsey is a Science Outreach Educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website "Hooked On Science" at hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindsey@hookedonscience.org. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com.