Pasta Quake | Science Snack Activity

The energy released in an earthquake ranges over many orders of magnitude.

Earthquakes are measured on a magnitude scale that is exponential: Each additional unit multiplies the energy released by 32. In this Snack, breaking spaghetti creates a “pasta magnitude scale” that models the energy released in an earthquake.

Full instructions for this activity are available at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/pasta-quake

Science Snacks are hands-on activities, projects, and experiments that are designed for the classroom and the curious. They're cheap, simple, safe, scientifically accurate, and teacher tested. Want to see more? Check out http://exploratorium.edu/snacks. © 2018 Exploratorium, all rights reserved.