The Magic Scientist Casts A Spell

By Susan Coney

Dennis Regling, The Magic Scientist aka Mr Dennis, entranced the St Rose student body this week when he presented two exciting chemistry programs at the school.

What began with a commitment to volunteering ended up in a new career path for Mr Dennis. Initially he volunteered to minister to prisoners in his home state, Ohio. From that volunteering position he incorporated a magic show into his ministry, which evolved into a full-time career in teaching science through magic to prisoners, church and library groups, and eventually to schools. Now he travels the country, 14 states this year alone, to educate and entertain. “It sure beats working,” Mr Dennis said.

Mingling with the students prior to and after the show it is clear that Mr Dennis has found his niche and truly enjoys his work. The students were completely mesmerized by the show entitled “Chemistry: It Really Matters,” a demonstration of experiments and exciting chemical reactions used to teach about liquids, solids, and gasses.

In his show Mr Dennis debunks tricks magicians have been using for centuries to fool audiences by showing through mathematics, chemistry, and physics the scientific basis behind the hocus pocus.

In one fascinating trick, Mr Dennis asked for a volunteer from the audience to play Truth or Consequences. Second grader Thomas Meier bravely raised his hand. The game was presented to Thomas that if he correctly answered a question posed by Mr Dennis he would receive five dollars; if he answered incorrectly, however, Mr Dennis would pour a cup of water over his head. After failing to answer a tongue-twisting question, Thomas braced himself to get soaked. When Mr Dennis proceeded to pour the water over Thomas’s head, nothing came out. The water magically turned to a gel-like substance and Thomas was spared getting soaked.

The trick, Mr Dennis said, was that he added one teaspoon of a nontoxic chemical called sodium polyacrylate to the bottom of the cup before adding the water. The superabsorbent polymer absorbed and retained the water, forming a rubbery gel. Sodium polyacrylate is used in the battlefield to quickly stop heavy bleeding and is used worldwide in all disposable diapers to prevent leaking. That was the science behind the magic.

Mr Dennis gave Thomas the cup of gel and told him he could take it home and that when it dried out it would revert back into a powder and he would be able to perform the experiment over again at home.

Mr Dennis provides such an attractive program because he combines humor with magic and science. He teaches safety first and stressed to the children that chemistry can be a phenomenal hobby but they need to have mom or dad’s help to keep it safe. He emphasized that materials for science experiments are available everywhere in the home.

Mr Dennis gave two performances at St Rose; one geared to students in kindergarten through third, the other for fourth to eighth grades. Third grader Luke Perda said, “It’s an awesome show because he makes explosions.”

Mr Dennis has a comprehensive website that offers safety tips, resource information, and new children’s experiments every week. For more information on his programs or experiments log on to www.magicscientist.com.