Theory Thursday: Dry Paper Underwater

Jake and I came back from soccer practice Thursday night and Erika had the Amazing Science DVD playing. Jake spotted this little trick and knew what he wanted to do.

All you need is a dry piece of paper, a glass, and a bucket with enough water to completely submerge the glass. Crumple the paper lightly, not too tight. (You want the paper to fit in the bottom of the glass but not fall out when you tip the glass upside down.) Simply tip the glass upside down and steadily submerge the glass in the water. You gotta keep the glass level so that none of the air is replaced with water. If it does you will have wet paper underwater.

Check out our attempt.

 

So how does it work? The air in the glass is lighter than the water. Because of this the air remains in the glass and acts as a buffer between the paper and the water keeping the paper dry.

Well, now that you know how to do it and why it does it go and try it. Try it with your friends. Just tell them, "I bet I can submerge this piece of paper in that water and it won't get wet."