Dollar Bill Grab

Add to list Go to activity
In this demonstration, learners observe as two cola bottles and a dollar bill are arranged in a specific order: one bottle, upside down and filled with water, is placed on top of another bottle, with a dollar bill placed in between the two bottles. The demonstrator yanks the dollar bill out and the water from the top bottle slowly drains into the bottom bottle, until all of the water has drained and the top bottle falls to the table. Use this activity to demonstrate gravity and inertia. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
Under 5 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
free per group of students
Age Range:
Ages 8 - 18
Resource Types:
Activity, Demonstration
Language:
English

Materials List (per group of students)

  • 2 ordinary 8 oz. glass Coke bottles
  • Dollar bill

Keywords

Subjects

  • Physical Sciences
    • Motion and Forces
      • Gravity
      • Newton's Laws
    • Structure and Properties of Matter
      • Mass and Weight
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Conducting Investigations

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

Rights:

  • All rights reserved, University of Virginia,