Steamy Mirrors Nina and the Neurons

# If you've got a question and you don't know where to go

# Ask Nina for some help cos she's got a science show

# She makes sense of her senses while helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments with potions and with bangs

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Luke, he helps us with our eyes and Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells and scents And Belle, she hears so much

# Bud is Ollie's brother He helps us with our taste

# They're Nina's little neurons And they're coming to your place!

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Oh, yeah! #

He-he-he! Oh, hello.

I'm just having some fun with this mirror.

Now you see it...

Now you don't.

Ha-ha!

BLEEPING

I hear a beep, I see a flash, I wonder what they're going to ask?

ALL: Hi, Nina!

Hi, guys!

We've got a question for you.

Why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?

That's a great question -

Why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?

That happens to me, too.

Why don't you come down to the lab and we'll investigate?

ALL: See you soon, Nina! Bye!

Bye!

I'm going to need some help to answer this one

and I know just who to ask.

OK, Neurons! Time to get to work.

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK. Today's question is,

"Why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?"

Which Neuron will help find the answer?

ALL: Me! Me! Me! Oh, me!

Will it be fabulous Felix?

I can help so very much, if you need the sense of touch.

Will it be beautiful Belle?

I send messages to brain from ear. If there's a sound, I'll help you hear.

Will it be lovely Luke?

For looking and seeing, day or night,

-I'll help you with your sense of sight.

-Will it be awesome Ollie?

If it's pongy or whiffy but you can't tell,

-my messages help your sense of smell.

-Or will it be baby Bud?

Sour, salty, bitter or sweet, I'm your taste buddy when you eat!

-It's Luke!

-Yes!

CHEERING

NEURONS: Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Go, Luke!

Cool, Nina. I'll be looking out to help ya!

Today's question is,

"Why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?"

To see the mirror steaming up, we use our sense of sight.

Luke is helping, but, stand by, Neurons - I may need all your help.

Right, I need to get the lab ready before the experimenters arrive.

Anna likes ballet, Arman loves football and Finn likes camping.

But they all want to know why mirrors steams up,

so, for one day only, Anna, Arman and Finn become

The Experimenters!

Hi, guys!

ALL: Hi, Nina!

Welcome to my lab.

It's lovely to see you all.

You asked, "Why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?"

Why do you want to know?

Because whenever our mum and dad run a bath, the mirror steams up.

And we want to know why.

A great question. For our first experiment, we'll use our senses.

ALL: Whoop-whoo! A senses experiment!

We're ready, Nina!

We've each got a mirror

and now we're going to touch it to see how it feels.

How does it feel?

-cold.

-It feels really dry.

-That's right.

The mirrors are dry and cold. Can you see your faces in the mirror?

Yeah.

We can see our faces in the mirror because they're not steamed up.

How can we make the mirror steam up?

I know! I know!

-Breathe on them.

-You just open your mouth and go...

Let's try breathing on the mirrors.

-What can you see on the mirror?

-It's gone white.

Yeah, white, misty patches.

Let's touch the mirrors, see how they feel now.

The mirror feels cold and damp.

-It feels really wet.

-That's because the white mist on the mirror

is made of tiny droplets of water. We need to do another experiment.

I'll be handling some hot things so I'm wearing my heatproof glove.

That's right. Nina's been specially trained to do this.

It's important not to touch hot things as they could hurt you.

What do you think is in this beaker here?

-Water.

-Yes! Hot water. And do you know what ice is made from?

Me! I know! I know!

-ALL: Water.

-Yes!

Oh! They beat me to it!

Ice is made by freezing water until it's hard, or solid.

So water can be liquid or a solid.

But water can be something else too. Watch this.

I'll use this torch so we can see inside the beaker.

Look! There's white mist inside Nina's beaker.

I can see swirly white stuff.

That's right. As well as being a solid or a liquid,

water can also become what we call a gas.

Most gases are invisible, like the air around us,

and water gas is invisible too.

But when it cools down, it changes back into tiny droplets of water

like the white mist in the beaker.

So water is very useful because it can be a liquid, a solid or a gas.

In fact, to show you just how useful water is,

let's go and visit somewhere where there's lots of water!

Oh, goody! I love this bit. I wonder where Nina is taking us.

Nina said it's somewhere with lots of water.

-I hope it's the seaside and they go paddling!

-Doesn't smell like the sea.

What is this type of boat called?

-ALL: Steamboat!

-That's right!

A steamboat, or a steam yacht to be exact.

But I don't see any sails to catch the wind, and no-one's rowing,

so what do you think is making this boat move?

I know, Nina!

Yes, Bud?

Is it steam?

Yes, well done, Bud, it IS steam!

Steam is making this boat move along, but how is it doing it?

TOOT! TOOT!

What a brilliant noise from the funnel!

Now, what can you see coming out of the boat's funnel?

-Steam!

-That's right - steam. But where is it coming from?

I think we need to find out. Let's go!

Euch. It smells a bit oily and smoky.

Phew! It's suddenly very hot!

This is the boiler room.

The boiler is a bit like a kettle -

it heats water till it's very hot. What happens when a kettle boils?

Steam comes out of it.

Yes! Really hot steam comes out of it - so stay away from kettles.

The boiler does the same thing.

Liquid water is heated up so much it turns into a water gas called steam.

The hot steam pushes those metal things called pistons.

The pistons then make the boat's propeller turn in the water

-and that makes the boat move forward. It's a clever boat!

-Yes!

It's time for one final experiment.

Your question was, why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?

We've found out that water can be a runny liquid, a hard solid like ice,

or a gas like steam.

When the bathroom mirror gets steamed up, it gets water on it,

but where does the water come from? Let's get experimenting!

You'll be using hot water so you're wearing your heatproof gloves.

It's important not to touch hot water as it could burn you.

These mirrors have been kept nice and cool for this experiment.

What do you notice about the beakers?

Steam coming from the top of it.

The water in the beakers is hot enough to turn into water gas

so please be very careful. What are your mirrors like?

-Can you see your faces in them?

-Yes.

Even though the mirrors are near the steaming beakers of hot water,

they're not steaming up.

-OK, where do you usually find a bath?

-In a bathroom.

That's right, in a bathroom. Now, let's imagine

that the boxes in front of you are your bathrooms at home

and the beaker of hot water is your bath. Carefully lift the box

and put it over the top of the mirror and the beaker. Excellent!

OK, so what can you see happening inside your pretend bathrooms?

-The mirrors are steaming up.

-That's right. The hot water in the beaker

has turned into water gas that's rising up and filling up the box.

This is what happens in our bathrooms -

water gas, or steam, comes off the hot water from your bath

and fills up the bathroom. If the door is closed, it can't escape.

Let's take the boxes, carefully, back off again.

Good...

Ooh! That mirror looks mighty steamed up to me!

-What's happened to the mirror?

-It's steamed up.

-So you can't see your faces in them, can you?

-No.

The hot water gas was trapped inside the box

and, when it touched the cold mirror, it cooled down

and turned back into liquid water. And these tiny droplets of water

made the mirror go misty white.

Your question was, why does the mirror steam up when we have a bath?

And I think we've answered it.

We found out that when the bathroom mirror gets steamed up,

it gets lots of tiny droplets of water on it.

On the steamboat, we discovered that when water is heated up enough,

it turns into a water gas called steam.

Our final experiment showed us that when hot steam from bath water

touches a cold mirror, it cools down and turns back into liquid water,

steaming up the mirror with lots of tiny droplets of water.

-I hope that answered your question.

-ALL: Thanks, Nina, bye!

Bye!

If you want to know more about the science that's all around us,

go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website. Have fun!

-Lab coat on, Nina.

-Lab coat on, Ollie.

-Safety gloves on, Nina.

-Safety gloved on, Felix.

And don't forget your goggles, Nina.

Goggles are on, Luke.

I think we're ready!

# We do experiments in the lab

# In the lab Shooby-dooby, in the lab

# Bubbling experiments in the lab

-# In the lab!

-Go, Nina! In the lab!

# Fizzing and popping Steam and smoke

# We need protection, don't we?

# We always put our safety first

# Shooby dooby, dooby, dooby

-# We do experiments in the lab

-Go, Nina... #

I've had a fabby day!

Especially when they steamed up the mirror with their breath!

It's been such a great day, man!

Watching all these amazing steamy experiments.

I've had a brilliant day! Hearing that whistling funnel -

it was really loud!

I really enjoyed myself today.

Though the boiler room was a bit hot and smelly.

It's been a marvellous day, helping Nina to stay safe.

Our day's been bursting with sensational experiments!

I hope you've enjoyed it. See you soon! Bye!

ALL: Bye!