Halloween Physics: Haunted Science Lab

From Frankenstein to Dr. Jeckyll, the Ghostbusters to Flatliners, the merging of science and haunting images has a long history. Over the last three years, Arbor Scientific made use of this to write a series of Halloween-related articles focusing on how to create a "Haunted Science Lab." These and other resources provide a series of optical illusions, tricks, and genuine science that are perfect for creating the spooky mood of Halloween for your little mad scientists - or even big mad scientists. Some of the effects listed below can be created quite simply, either with common home materials or materials that are easy to find around a science lab, while others require a bit more preparation.

Relevant Arbor Scientific CoolStuff Newsletters

Issue #11, Oct. 2004 - Haunted Laboratory I

• Mirrorly a Ghost
• Apple Oscillator
• Pumpkin Pendulum
• Ghostly Apparition
• Spooky Anamorphic Art
• Reverse Masks
• Ectoplasm
• Magic Wand
• Ghost Brains
• The Indecisive Skeleton

Issue #16, Oct. 2004 - Cool Slimey Stuff

• Slime Recipe
• Easy Slime Alternative Lab

Issue #21, Oct. 2005 - Return of the Haunted Laboratory

• Professor Zepf's tips for the Haunted Lab
• Freaky Faces
• Monsters of the Deep in a Drop of Pond Water
• Pepper's Ghost
• Ghostly Messages
• The Oozing Flesh Display

Steve Spangler Science - Halloween Science Recipes

• Real Slime!
• Dry Ice Fun
• Instant Worms
• Halloween Smoke Ring Launcher
• Elmer's Glue Slime
• Dry Ice Bubble
• Bleeding Paper
• Quicksand
• Screaming Cup

The Physics Teacher - "The Haunted Physics Lab" by Thomas H. Zepf, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

Also, read about the Northern Illinois University Haunted Physics Laboratory, for a nice description of the mood created by such an event.

Image: Distributed for use through GNU Free Documentation license, by creator J.J. through Wikimedia Commons.

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As another Halloween treat, the following article, available only to subscribers of the American Journal of Physics, details how to use Jack O'Lanterns to explore photometry.

American Journal of Physics - "Jack O'Lanterns and integrating spheres: Halloween physics" (subscription only) by Lorne A. Whitehead & Michele A. Mossman, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.