Chemistry Chapter Zero

CHEMISTRY CHAPTER ZERO

Can toys be Mass Spectrometers?

Your friendly author cannot skip toy departments. Surely, projectile tossing toys can make take the place of the mass spectrometer he has described. He keeps looking, and the answer is "yes and no".

You will be able to find many variants on the spring loaded toy shown above. If you look closely, you can see that the yellow projectiles have masking tape on them. In one projectile, there are three 3/4" glue stick pieces, and in the other, there are three 3/4" set screws. With the masking tape, both projectiles look the same. The visual clues are suppressed, and the students must watch the behavior of the projectile
Ready for launch...
The author is about to pull the trigger!
This toy works well for classroom demonstrations of the Mass Spectrometer effect -- lighter projectiles travel farther than heavier ones. However, there are problems. First, there is only one launcher/projectile set, and the intent is to get all students actively involved. Second, the students cannot see the insides, and perhaps there is something tricky going on.

A grocery store thought that they could make a bundle selling this spring-loaded toy. And, in a way, they did. The author bought 50 of these at $1 each, in the discontinued mechandise pile. This toy almost makes the grade. Throw away the airplane, and modify the dart.
The dart becomes the pusher for foam atoms. Use the ramrod to reset the spring, and the cardboard cover to keep the foam atom moving in the right direction. However, I'll bet that you cannot find this toy on the market anywhere (imported from China, no manufacturer information). Again, students cannot see the insides. In addition, it is difficult to use this toy reproducibly.
What is not shown?
Air-driven launchers! I could never convince myself that weighted and unweighted projectiles would make the same seal with the launcher, and I believe that the students have no useful idea why air pressure pushes a projectile.