How to recycle your urine in space | Physics - How to Survive in Space

Dr Kevin Fong demonstrates a urine recycling system that works using osmosis, concluding by drinking the liquid that is produced. This clip is from the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2015. Subscribe for more Physics clips from BBC Teach on Wednesdays when we have them in: http://bit.ly/BBCSubscribeTeach If you found this video helpful, give it a like. Share it with someone. Add the video to your own teaching playlists. Create an account, subscribe to the channel and create playlists for different age groups, sets and syllabuses. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bbc_teach ===================== Kevin Fong asks for a volunteer from the audience who would be happy to drink a sample of his urine. He is surprised when some children volunteer and explains that urine is a waste product from the body which contains chemicals which in large quantities are harmful to us. He then demonstrates a urine recycling system based on osmosis. A concentrated syrup is placed on one side of a semi-permeable membrane and urine is placed on the other side. Over time, osmosis draws water from the urine into the syrup, which can then be drunk by an astronaut. Kevin drinks the liquid that results, and concludes that while the output from the urine-recycling bag is safe to drink, it still smells like urine and still tastes a bit like it too! This clip is from the BBC series How to Survive in Space. From the historic Royal Institution, 'space doctor' Kevin Fong takes us on a ride from launch to orbit and the cosmos beyond, with help from British astronaut Tim Peake. For our How to Survive in Space playlist: http://bit.ly/TeachSurvive For our Space Science playlist: http://bit.ly/bit.ly/BBCTeachSpace For our Physics playlist: http://bit.ly/BBCTeachPhysics For Class Clips users, the original reference for the clip was p03lhmd2. ===================== Teaching Physics or Science? Key Stage 3: You could ask students where urine comes from and what it contains. Ask them to suggest why it would be harmful to drink urine. Then watch the clip and ask them to discuss their thoughts afterwards. Key Stage 4: Before watching the clip, you could ask students to discuss the principles and applications of osmosis in pairs. After watching the clip, you could ask them whether they would drink the product from the bag and if they can suggest some explanations for Kevin’s observation that the product still smelled and tasted like urine (eg there might have been a leak in the membrane). This clip will be relevant for teaching Physics. This topic appears at KS3 and in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC KS4/GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 in Scotland. ===================== For more clips from other subjects at the BBC Teach YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/bbcteach More resources for teachers from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/teach More from BBC Learning Zone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone More resources from BBC Bitesize: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education ===================== Subscribe to create your own customised playlists, and get notified about our latest clips. As we have them, new videos will be uploaded on the following days: Mondays: Biology, Computer Science, Music, Religious Studies Tuesdays: Drama and Performance, English Language, Maths, Physical Education Wednesdays: Languages, Media Studies, Modern Studies and PSHE, Physics Thursdays: Art and Design, Chemistry, Geography, History Fridays: Business Studies, Design and Technology, English Literature, Early Years