The News Journal:
Inventor Thomas Edison was in his 30s when he invented the phonograph and perfected the light bulb.
So there is still plenty of time for 14-year-old Jason Liu to make a mark with his parabolic reflector — or whatever else he might come up with before he reaches a more mature age of discovery.
He has already gotten a head start on his dream of being an inventor. Liu has been picked as one of 10 finalists in the national Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
His invention, as detailed in a two-minute video he submitted to judges with his application, is quite simple. He created a concave circle of reflective cardboard with a round hole cut out in the middle so the hole and the reflective material, facing up, could fit around a burner on the gas stove on his kitchen.
He placed a metal cup filled with water on the burner with the reflector and another on a burner without a reflector. After heating the two cups of water for five minutes, he measured the temperature of the water in each. The cup on the burner with the reflector was 120 degrees Fahrenheit and the one without was 100 degrees.
Liu said he first got the idea for his parabolic reflector after he studied a satellite dish outside his home and wondered if he could use such a concave device to cook something more efficiently.
Photo by The News Journal.