Australia's Science Forum

Our teachers also use shaving cream, just a small amount that expands greatly. They also use marshmallows.

Rosalie,
the tea idea is good if you like cold water with tea leaves floating in it. It was even suggested to boil an egg in bell jar, try and have an egg fight.

Lada

HI,
I just got my bell jar today and have no idea what sort of hoses etc I will need to make it work. All the one's I have seen on Youtube seem to be sitting on some sort of base which the pump connects to, but those jars are solid. The one I have as you can see from the pick has a stopper in the top, how do I use it? where do I connect the pump and do I need to buy one of those base things with a tap?

Hi Rowyrow

You need to buy a base with a tap. Ours allows the tap to be turned to seal the bell jar and then we can turn the pump off. Much easier to hear the sound as it increases. When you get the base you will see where the hoses go. It's best to take the stopper out of the bell jar and put silicon grease or vaseline around it before it's put back. Don't forget to use vaseline to seal against the base plate.

Thanks for that.Any idea where to get a stand from i can't find one with the supplier i got the jar from. Are they called something specific that I need to use as a search term?

Haines had one called 'vacuum plate' with a stopcock. Science supply also has one but without a stopcock - called 'surface plate - for bell jars'. Both are the same price $190. With the stopcock you can turn off the vacuum pump and only hear the bell. Some suppliers have them with the vacuum pumps in their catalogues and others have them alphabetically.

Hope this helps.