Set up a match leaning against another match, with a coin underneath. Challenge someone – take the coin without knocking over the match. How can you do this?
What you’ll need:
- matches and matchbox
- skewer or sharp knife
- coin
What to do:
- Use a skewer, or something similar, to put a hole in the matchbox cover, towards the end.
- Put one match through the hole.
- Put a coin on the other end of the matchbox.
- Carefully, balance another match so one end is on the coin, and the head of the match is resting on the head of the match sticking through the matchbox.
- Issue your challenge – who can get the coin without knocking over the match?
- Light the leaning match in the middle.
- Allow the matches to burn. You will see a bright flame when the heads of the matches light up.
- Once the matches have burnt out, the leaning match will be floating. You can easily remove the coin without knocking over the match.
What happens:
When the two heads of the matches light up together, the high heat makes the heads fuse together, making a bright flame. The leaning match is lit in the middle, causing most of it to burn, leaving very little weight, which allows it to curl up and float, attached to the head of the other match.