Colors are all around us. We have so many different hues and shades that at times it is difficult to imagine that all of them stem from the same three primary colors red, blue and yellow. Of course it’s a simple matter to mix up the secondary colors from the primary ones and our little science project here is to do just that.

What do you get when you mix up the cellophane sheets of two different colors and shine a flashlight through them? You project a secondary color onto the wall. If you mix red and yellow you get orange. If you mix yellow and blue you will get green.  If you mix blue and red you get purple.

Now with the primary and secondary colors you can paint a rainbow. Of course the red, blue and green are considered primary colors in the computer images as the RGB combinations are used to create digital images. In fact when combined they give you the base white color for the computer screen.

Naturally colors play an important part of our lives. Without color things would be like a rainy day black, white and grey. So get out those colors and start off with your own multi hued painting adventure. You could even keep records and make a science project out of it.

Mixed powers like salt and pepper can seem impossible to separate, but this handy science experiment shows you just how to do the trick. We all know that everything is essentially made up of atoms. The atom is the smallest part of a substance that retains all the physical and chemical properties of the matter.

However the atom can also be broken into three smaller parts called the protons, electrons and neutrons. Of these the protons have a positive electrical charge while the electrons have a negative charge. The neutrons as the name suggests are neutral with no charge. The atom itself is supposed to have a balanced number of these sub parts so that it retains a largely neutral effect.

So how is this going to help us separate salt and pepper? Lets first sprinkle a spoon of salt on  a plate. Now add a spoon of pepper to it and mix it lightly till the salt and pepper are well mixed. Now get a comb and a woolen cloth. When you rub the comb on the cloth you will charge it negatively. Now hover the comb over the mixture and you will find the pepper particles dancing off the plate and sticking to the comb.

How did it happen? Salt and pepper are both positively charged and the negative charge of the comb attracts them both. However as the pepper particles are lighter they fly up higher and get separated from the mix. Follow up this interesting science experiment with one of your own.

The purpose of using invisible ink can be as simple as a lover’s note being passed in class to as complex as sending out spy messages from another country. There have been different types of inks used down the ages and science experiments have produced new substances that can be used as invisible ink as well.

Depending on the type of invisible ink that has been used there can be different methods of making the writing on the paper visible. For the simpler inks such as the juice of lemon or milk it is easy to reveal the secret writing. All you have to do is heat up the paper and the writing on the page pops right up. Of course you need to make sure that you secure the heat source properly or you may just end up burning the sheet of paper on which your message is written.

For the more complex inks, which can be fluorescent in nature, you will need to have a source of ultra violet light to see what the message is all about. Portable lights can be carried on your person so that you can decode and decipher the message written with fluorescent ink. These are more durable inks as they can’t be washed away very easily. Science projects to find more invisible ink possibilities are always in progress. Maybe you will discover the next one.

Invisible ink is of many different types. From juice of citrus fruits, to milk and of course the kind that can be made from cornstarch. There are a number of choices for your invisible ink. Unfortunately once the iodine solution has been dabbed on to the paper the invisible ink becomes visible and can be read quite easily.

There is however one kind of invisible ink which remains hidden even after you have read it.  That clear fluid you see may be more sinister than it appears. It could be fluorescent invisible ink that you could use to write on any surface. The only way it will be read if some used an ultra violent light to show it. When the light is switched off no one is the wiser about the secret message given by the ink.

Did you know that most bodily fluids are fluorescent by nature? It has been proved by science that blood semen, saliva, vaginal fluids are all naturally fluorescent. Thant means that a crime scene investigator can narrow down his scope of investigation by merely shining an ultra violet light on the area to see where the human bodily fluids prevail. This technique is usually seen in television shows as the investigator flashes a hand held portable ultra violet light around the body to see where all the blood has been washed up.

We all have secrets that we want to keep from the child in school to the corporate boss, there’s always something that we don’t want the wrong eyes to see. Invisible ink is a simple way to keep a secret, unfortunately it is not a very secure one. After all the coding of a message is a more secure manner to keep a secret. If you don’t have the key you don’t know the secret.

That is where scientists have worked for years on science projects that help keep data safe from the enemy. With the advance of technology there have been many gadgets that have been used to encode your secrets. The unfortunate thing is that just as soon as you have a new method of keeping secrets the enemy has found a new one to decode them. It is a constant ongoing struggle to keep data safe.

With the advent of the internet data has become more accessible than before. You could merely with a click of a mouse find out everything from all the information you like about a person who interests you to the lyrics of a particularly appealing song that you like to hear. In such an open society too there are some secrets that must be kept. That is why year after year millions are spent on science projects that deal with securing the data.

If you are fascinated by the concept of writing with invisible ink it could lead to an interesting science project. After all if you can find the right combination of chemicals you could use anything for making invisible ink. The natural invisible ink that is available freely in most of our homes is the juice of citrus fruits such as lemon and orange.

You can just squeeze the juice and begin writing. Reading what you have written is also simple. Just warm up the paper with an electrical iron slightly and the words will jump out of the page. Its kid stuff really. Now if you are looking for something a bit more complicated which your kid brother will not be able to read by merely heating up the paper, read on.

Here’s what you need to make your own invisible ink. Take 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 4 teaspoons of water and mix them in a small pan. Heat the mixture for a few minutes and stir constantly. Dip a toothpick in the mixture and write out your letter on paper. Let it dry.

Now to read the message you need to make a solution of 1 teaspoon of iodine in 10 teaspoons of water. Use a small sponge to dab the solution on to the secret letter. The writing will appear purple. Just make sure that you don’t use too much of the solution or you may just wipe out the message altogether. Have fun with the science project making many secret messages.

The thrill of a good mystery is always enhanced by a letter written in invisible ink. The good news is that not all invisible ink is as expensive as other supplies for a secret agent are. In fact this science project involves making and using invisible ink to write you friend a letter that everyone else will think is a blank page.

So if you want to share your secrets with that one special friend here’s what you need to do. Get hold of a lemon from the fruit basket . Now squeeze out the juice in a bowl and get ready to write your letter. Milk is also a good substitute for invisible ink on plain white paper. Once you have finished writing your letter you need to let the paper dry so that what you have written does not get smudged.

Now fold it up and deliver it to your friend. Of course you will need to tell your friend just how to read the letter too. That’s also quite simple. The trick is to heat up the paper so that the invisible writing shows up. You can use the heat from a radiator to do so. Just make sure that if you use any other source of heat you are careful not to burn up the paper with the secret message. You can make a science project out of discovering what other material can make good invisible ink.

As long as man has had imagination he has thought about conquering the skies. With air crafts already there you may wonder why scientists are still trying to design cars that can fly. The science project where you try to make a toy car fly is not just a pet project with kids. Many car designers the world over are trying to get a car into the air as well.

They are trying to get the design right so that there is enough fuel to make a trip through the skies. See what the optimum speed of a car would be and just how heavy or light it would be to fly with ease. Of course there is also the question of what kind of fuel should power the flying car. Since many conventional cars today are not green wouldn’t it be great to have a flying car that was eco friendly.

The green flying car would however need even more structural and system changes. Whole new systems would have to be developed so that the car uses renewable green energy sources such as solar energy or fuel cells. Then the technology would have to be modified to fit into the flying car body frame. A source of many science projects for years to come.

The depleting petroleum resources have sent the world into a panic. Many science projects involve finding alternatives to vehicles that are powered by petrol or diesel. Of these one of the fields that has received much attention is the development of solar power based fuel cell cars. Unfortunately while progress is being made in this field it is not being made fast enough.

The non renewable resources are being run through at an alarming rate and there does not seem to be any viable alternative visible. Of course the car companies are making valiant effort to find alternative means of fueling cars and Honda has done something quite nice recently.

Honda’s fuel cell electric car, the FCX Clarity, can go about 240 miles on a tank of hydrogen fuel. And the best part is that it’s emission is pure water. You can actually drink the so called waste product of the fuel. So much for pollution from the vehicle. The only trouble is that the car is expensive. Naturally in a few years time as the technology gets better and the car more popular there is a chance that the prices will come down as well.

So as long as you have a hydrogen refueling station somewhere close by you will be actually able to save the planet and get from one place to the other. Of course it will be some time before everyone gets into these cars, but the future of science technology seems bright.

It has been proved by repeated science experiments that you are a product of your genes. The genes that you get in part from each of your parents will influence a number of your own characteristics.  There are some genes that are stronger than others for instance you have a strong family nose or a typical jaw that runs through most family members.

This family resemblance is also thanks to the genes that you and your family share. The fact is that genes don’t just affect the way you look on the outside. They also affect you on a deeper level on the inside. Now scientists are trying to see just how the genes affect your health. There is a greater tendency for some diseases to be genetic.

Although it is not quite certain why some genes get passed on to create health and why some go on to make you sick, the fact is that genes do affect the state of your health. It could be something as simple as having sickle cell anemia because your parents passed you the genes. Or it could be a something more acute like a tendency to have a coronary disease.

The truth is that little is known as yet about the functioning of genes. Our present knowledge is basic and rudimentary. Everyday scientists are experimenting with new technology to learn more about the body and its secrets. It may be years before we complete this particular science project.