14 DAY TRIAL // TheBackyardScientist is back with yet another experiment that will surely please those of you with an appetite for destruction. Carefully controlled and perfectly safe destruction, that is.
This time, he's not pouring molten metals into watermelons, lava lamps or just plain water hoping to set off an explosion, as is his usual habit. He's using electricity to set wood planks on fire.
For starters, the science aficionado creates his very own zapping equipment. Apparently, when it comes to using electricity to burn wood, current straight from the wall or a battery just won't cut it.
Instead, TheBackyardScientist uses a microwave oven transformer to fashion himself a high voltage source of electricity. He then coats wood planks with a baking soda solution and zaps them.
The reason he adds baking soda dissolved in water to the wood is to increase its conductivity and make sure the electricity can pass through the planks swiftly enough to create intricate patterns.
When all is said and done, the electrocuted wood planks kind of, sort of resemble paintings. In fact, TheBackyardScientists confesses he keeps one such home-made artwork in his living room.
“Great video! I was wondering what to do with the transformer. I can't wait to do some wood burning of my own,” a viewer commented on the video. “This creates beautiful works of art. Thanks,” another one added.
