District 203 student scientists appeared on David Letterman May 20

For the 17th year and quite possibly the last time, Naperville School District 203 students traveled to New York City to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday night. Watch the experiments below.

Genie in a Bottle (decomposition of hydrogen peroxide) – This demonstration represents the use of a catalyst on the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.

Light Saber – This demonstration uses the property of conductivity to light a fluorescent tube.  One person will hold on to a Tesla coil.  We will make a chain of students.  The second to last student will be holding on to a fluorescent tube.  The last student will also be holding on to the tube.  The electricity from the Tesla coil will be transferred through the students to light the bulb.

T-shirt Canon – This demonstration uses a combustion reaction to propel T-shirts with the Late Show logo into the audience.  Acetylene gas will be produced inside a PVC tube.  The force of the “explosion” will shoot T-shirts from the pipe.