Neptunium

Sometimes in my blog absences, I even wonder where I've been or what I've been doing that makes me forget to post or not have time to post. I am sorry to update you with the fact that I've been in school, teaching, working out, or at home - so really I have no excuse (well maybe one since I now go to bed at 9:30).

Excuses aside, here are some home videos of my newest toy educational tool - the Diet Coke and Mentos powered car. This thing is a real beauty when it 1) is propelled straight and 2) does not fall apart. I'm hoping to try and get a set of these in my placement in the hopes of taking my kids outside and letting these suckers go using them for a lab activity.

And to answer your question, yes, I ran out in front of a car to save the piece of the Diet Coke and Mentos car that fell off. Nothing comes in the way of science, not even motorized vehicles.

Fun Fact: While neptunium is rarely found in nature, you still have a small amount of it in your house. Smoke detectors use americium (an element you'll hear about 2 posts from now) to generate alpha particles that interact and detect smoke particles. When americium generates alpha particles, it breaks down into neptunium!