Anti-Gravity Experiment

Here's a cool little experiment that your kids will love that appears to be defying the law of gravity.  We all know that if you take a glass of water and tip it upside down, the water will fall out and make a mess.  Is there a way to stop the water from falling?  There is, with the help of a handkerchief or a napkin.

Take a glass (a wine glass works great) and place a napkin (cloth) over the top.  Slowly pour water onto the napkin.  As expected, the water drips through the napkin into the glass.  Continue this until the glass is about 1/2 full.  Now pull the napkin so that it is very tight around the edge.  Very carefully tip the glass upside down.  Amazingly the water does not drip back out!  You can even let go of the napkin and peel it away from the sides of the glass.  The water will still remain in the glass.

So what's going on here?  Are you really defying the law of gravity?  No, as cool as that would be, the law of gravity is still true.  Water drips through the napkin when the napkin is loosely draped over the glass.  Small holes in the fabric leave an opening for the water.  When the napkin is held tight, however, those holes are closed up and the water can't escape.  Very cool!  At the end of the video you can catch my 2 year old screaming "Daddy!" when she looked and saw the water had fallen out!