Does Air Take Up Space? (Experiment 2)

Does air (an invisible gas) take up space?

Materials 

• clear container
• clear plastic cup
• water 
• paper towel

Directions

• Fill the container with water.
• Crunch up the paper towel and stuff it completely into the bottom of the plastic container.
• Turn the cup upside down and push it straight down into the container of water. (Do NOT tilt the cup.)
• Lift the cup straight up out of the container.
• Observe the paper towel.
• What happened to the paper towel?  (It's amazing! It's completely dry!)
• Does air take up space? (Yes!)

So coooool. The paper towel is still dry!

Explanation

The air is trapped inside the cup and that keeps the paper towel dry.
If the cup was tilted sideways, air would escape and water would get inside the cup and wet the paper towel.

(See previous experiment.)