Can I make my own crater?
Yes! Drop pebbles or marbles into a tray of flour topped with cocoa powder, and you will make craters with rays, just like on the Moon.
Making craters is a fun, safe experiment you can do at home or at school with an adult.
You will need a deep baking tray or washing-up bowl, enough plain flour to fill it about 5 centimetres deep, a sprinkling of cocoa powder or drinking chocolate, and some round objects of different sizes, such as marbles, small balls and pebbles. Put down newspaper first, because it gets messy!
Smooth the flour flat, then sprinkle a thin layer of cocoa powder over the top. This dark layer will show where material is thrown out. Now drop a marble from about 30 centimetres high. Carefully lift it out and look. You will see a round hole, a raised rim, and a splash of white flour sprayed over the brown cocoa, like the rays around craters on the Moon.
Now be a scientist. Try dropping from higher up, using bigger or heavier objects, or throwing at an angle. Measure each crater with a ruler and record your results. Do faster or bigger objects make bigger craters? Do slanted throws make oval craters? Real craters are made by much faster objects, but your tray shows many of the same patterns. Remember to wear safety glasses and never throw objects at people.