Why did Santa need Rudolph?

Last week we watched the Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” while decorating the tree.  Allie loved watching Rudolph, the elves, and all the misfit toys.  We endured the Abominable Snow Monster thanks to fast forward.  I forgot how scary he was!  After the movie Allie had a very thought provoking question.  Here was our conversation.

 

 

Allie:  Mommy, why did Santa need Rudolph?

Me:  Don’t you remember?  He needed him to light the way.  Just like when Mommy turns on my car headlights at night to see.  Rudolph was the headlight for Santa’s sleigh.

Allie:  (She just stared at me.)

Me:  Remember how the song goes, “Then one foggy Christmas Eve”?  Rudolph was his light to see through the fog.

Allie:  Ok Mommy.

Yikes! My Christmas magic needed some science…. pronto!  I quickly found a neat little way to create fog in a jar here  and we set up an experiment with her beloved toy Rudolph.

Question:  Why did Santa need Rudolph?

Plan: First, Allie helped me position Rudolph behind a clear jar.  Then we heated 2 cups of water for 2 minutes in the microwave.  I poured the water in the jar and put a bag of ice on top of the jar.  Now we will have warm moist air in the jar with the cool air around the ice bag covering the top of the jar. Great conditions for making fog!

What happened: Fog occurs when the moisture in warm air meets cold air.  This cooling causes the moisture to form tiny water droplets suspended in the air.

Post experiment thoughts:  Rudolph must have been like a fog light is to a car.  Fog lights shine low to the ground and wide out in front of the car.  If his nose was shining up into the fog, the red light would have reflected back at Santa’s eyes!  Thank goodness Santa had Rudolph!

Allie’s question was answered that day thanks to some Christmas magic with a pinch of science.