Rutgers University Physics Department to Host 14th Annual Rutgers Faraday Christmas Children’s Lecture To be Held Friday Through Sunday

In the 1800's, British physicist Michael Faraday would give annual Christmas lectures to young people at the Royal Academy in London, demonstrating physics and chemistry experiments that had dazzling effects.

While the science may not have been understood at the time by the general population, Faraday's idea was to fully explain the scientific cause for these experiments.

"He tried to do as much as possible to explain what was happening in a cinch so that people would not only understand it but support it," said Rutgers University physics support specialist David Maiullo.

This weekend, Maiullo, along with Rutgers physics professor Mark Croft and the Department of Physics and Astronomy will present their own physics exposition, created in the spirit of Faraday's famed programs.

Maiullo said the 14th Annual Rutgers Faraday Christmas Children's Lecture, to be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights on Busch Campus, is suitable for all ages, from the very young to the elderly.

The show, which is free and open to the public, is fast paced with plenty of humor, but also fully explains the science behind the demonstrations, Maiullo said.

Attendees will observe exploding hydrogen balloons, the use of a fire extinguisher to proper a person across a room, and a man lying on a bed of nails, among other things, according to Rutgers.

All of the demonstrations in the show are experiments that were designed for classroom use, Maiullo said.

"It was all developed so we could explain physics to the classes as we go through the topics," he said.

Attendees arriving early to the show will also be able to visit several demonstration stations that will be set up early, as well as peer through six telescopes set up to view the moon and Jupiter, Maiullo said.

Rutgers students and staff will be on hand to answer questions, he said.

Maiullo said that parents have approached him after past shows to say that they enjoyed the demonstrations even more than their children did.

"It's a way of making it so the general public real gets a hand on what is happening in the world of physics," he said.

The Rutgers Faraday Christmas Children’s Lecture will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 9, Dec. 10 and Dec. 11.

The event will be held at the  Physics Lecture Hall, 120 Frelinghuysen Road on Rutgers University's Busch Campus in Piscataway.

For more information, including driving directions, visit the event website.