Put out your open hand - grab hold of a handful of air - there is NOTHING there! Or so it seems! But there is - there's a powerful lot of STUFF there -an enormous array of it! The ATMOSPHERE is a massive thing. The pressure of the air is about 15 pounds per square inch at sea level. On every square inch of everything there is a load of 15 pounds - very nearly. The average human being bears a load of some TWENTY TONS! The whole blanket of atmosphere which envelops the Earth weighs some 5000 million million tons! Fantastic! We show an array of enchanting DEMONSTRATIONS on THE PUSH OF THE AIR.

A - We boil water in a tin can. We drive out all the air. We now stopper up the can. The water vapor in the can condenses - that is - it goes back into the liquid state. The pressure in the can is reduced. The atmosphere squeezes the can! The PUSH of the air is terrific.

B - We do the same thing with another can but in this case we evacuate
the can - we take out SOME of the air - with a vacuum pump. Again the great push of the air squeezes the can.

C - A funnel has its open end covered with a stout rubber sheet. We take out some of the air. The atmosphere PUSHES the sheet in — the more air we take out the more it pushes in - and suddenly BANG - the sheet is burst apart by the PUSH of the air.

D - "Suction" cups! This is bad language! There is NO SUCTION! We
squeeze the "suction" cups together; we drive out the air between them. Then what? The atmosphere OUTSIDE pushes them together! And very strongly.

E - We do the classic experiment of Otto von Guericke with the Magdeburg Hemispheres. In the original demonstration in the Public Square SIXTEEN HORSES pulled the hemispheres apart. But only eight were really necessary. See why?

F - On a sheet of newspaper about 20" by 30" - that is - on an area of 600 square inches - there rests a load of atmosphere of some 9000 pounds. Fantastic! Now we wish to put this enormous load - this massive MASS - into motion by a short-lived impulsive blow. Remember the Sack of Bricks in Inertia? Newton said: "A body at rest wishes to remain at rest". And 9000 pounds - over FOUR TONS - has just too much inertia to be put into motion suddenly. So BANG! The board is broken because the great load of air does not wish to move.
When the air is quiet the PUSH of the air is something to think about. Imagine what happens when this massive air is on the move - as in a hurricane or in a tornado. Cities are destroyed!

1. The Idea of the Center of Gravity
2. Newton's First Law of Motion: Inertia
3. Newton's Second Law of Motion: The Elevator Problem
4. Newton's Third Law of Motion: Momentum
5. Energy and Momentum
6. Concerning Falling Bodies & Projectiles
7. The Simple Pendulum and Other Oscillating Things
8. Adventures with Bernoulli: Bernoulli's Principle
9. Soap Bubbles and Soap Films
10. Atmospheric Pressure
11. Centrifugal Force and Other Strange Matters
12. The Strange Behavior of Rolling Things
13. Archimedes' Principle
14. Pascal's Principle: The Properties of Liquids
15. Levers, Inclines Planes, Geared-wheels and Other Machines
16. The Ideas of Heat and Temperature
17. Thermometric Properties and Processes
18. How to Produce Heat Energy
19. Thermal Expansion of Stuff: Solids
20. Thermal Expansion of Stuff: Gases & Liquids
21. The Strange Thermal Behavior of Ice and Water
22. Heat Energy Transfer by Conduction
23. Heat Energy Transfer by Convection
24. Heat Energy Transfer by Radiation
25. Evaporation, Boiling, Freezing: A Dramatic Adventure
26. Miscellaneous Adventures in Heat
27. The Drama in Real Cold Stuff: Liquid Nitrogen
28. The Physics of Toys: Mechanical
29. The Physics of Toys: Acoustic and Thermal
30. Waves: Kinds of Properties
31. Sound Waves: Sources of Sound & Pitch and Frequency
32. Vibrating Bars and Strings: The Phenomenon of Beats
33. Resonance: Forced Vibrations
34. Sounding Pipes
35. Vibrating Rods and Plates
36. Miscellaneous Adventures in Sound
37. Electrostatic Phenomena: Foundations of Electricity
38. Electrostatic Toys, Part 1
39. Electrostatic Toys, Part 2
40. Adventures with Electric Charges
41. Adventures in Magnetism
42. Ways to "Produce" Electricity
43. Properties and Effects of Electric Currents
44. Adventures in Electromagnetism
45. Further Adventures in Electromagnetism
46. Miscellaneous and Wondrous Things in E&M

Demonstrations in Physics was an educational science series produced in Australia by ABC Television in 1969. The series was hosted by American scientist Julius Sumner Miller, who demonstrated experiments involving various disciplines in the world of physics. The series was also released in the United States under the title Science Demonstrations.

This program was a series of 45 shows (approximately 15 minutes each) on various topics in physics, organized into 3 units: Mechanics; Heat and Temperature / Toys; and Waves and Sound / Electricity and Magnetism.