Discusses the puzzling effects of shadows cast in water. Demonstrates the effects of various objects and surface curvatures on the behavior of light rays transmitted through water. (CW)

Discusses the optics of fly fishing, considering where to cast the fly once a fish is seen. Also considers what the fisherman looks like to the fish, examining refraction at a water surface, actual and apparent light rays, and how sticks in the water might look to a fish. (JN)

Discusses some of the physical processes involved in the freezing of water. Traces the work of a variety of researchers who have discovered numerous variables involved in the complexities of ice. (TW)

Discusses forces that shape the behavior of water as a drop meanders down a windowpane. A homemade apparatus for studying meanders is described along with several experiments. Contact angles, molecule attraction, surface area, air tension, and gravity drag forces are some of the topics addressed. (DH)

The tendency of a poured liquid to cling to the outside of a container is known as the "teapot effect." The nature of the teapot effect and experiments investigating this phenomenon are described. (JN)

Describes experiments using fluidyne engines. These engines (which have liquid pistons), started by external heat sources, are used primarily for pumping water. Examples of various engines built from U-shaped tubes or from coiled tubes in fruit jars are provided. (DH)

Discusses the thermodynamics of heating and boiling water, including the mechanics of bubble formation. Indicates that when salt was added to boiling water (when cooking pasta) the water temperature rose less than a degree, concluding that salt serves only as a seasoning. (Author/JN)

Discusses the construction of lenses made out of ice, including the arrangement for mounting an ice lens on a camera. Also discusses brewing coffee in an ibrik (long-handled container tapering slightly toward the top), focusing on the physics of the brewing. (JN)

Discusses solubility interactions of various oils placed on the surface of water and other liquids, explained using the basic forces of gravity, electrical attraction, and quantum mechanics (non-mathematical). Hydrogen and ionic bonding between oleic acid/water is analyzed. An experiment to determine physical properties of the oleic acid molecule…