Mad Science of Central Virginia brings spooky experiments to 8News studio

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Halloween has arrived, and Mad Science of Central Virginia gave 8News the chance to try out some spooky experiments Friday morning.

In the morning on Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31, 8News Anchor Delaney Hall and Forecaster Tyler Hall tried out two fright-filled experiments with Anastasiya Rogatnik and Barbara Burstein, co-owners of Mad Science of Central Virginia.

First, the group caused an "eyeball" to float in the air with a hair dryer, which is a demonstration of Bernoulli's principle. A stream of warm air coming from the hair dryer beneath the eyeball and the cool air around the ball creates an air pocket that allows the ball to be suspended.

The group then demonstrated the same principle with larger objects -- a leaf blower and a beach ball.

Next, the group "melted" a wicked witch made out of Styrofoam with acetone. This breaks apart the polymer and releases trapped air.

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When Tyler asked the pair about why sharing information about science is important for kids to learn, Rogatnik and Burstein said that science has a variety of applications.

"When we give the vocabulary to understand what's going on, it helps you give a deeper understanding of what's going [on] in your world," Burnstein said.

"Our true goal is to inspire kids to choose science as their future career, and there are so many fun careers in science," Rogatnik said. "You can go the NASA route, you can go into physics, there's chemistry, and so on and so forth."

For more information, visit Mad Science of Central Virginia's website.