Marvin and Milo

What you need

1. A tissue
2. A rubber band
3. The inside of a toilet roll
4. Salt
5. A fat marker pen

Instructions

1. Unfold a tissue and lay it flat over one end of the toilet roll
2. Hold it in place with the rubber band
3. Put the toilet roll on a table, tissue-covered end facing down
4. Pour salt into the toilet roll until it is about three quarters full.
5. Hold the toilet roll in the air and push the pen into the salt inside the toilet roll

Results & explanation

The tissue doesn't rip as easily as you might think.

There are tiny pockets of air in between the grains of salt. As the pen is pushed down into the salt, these pockets act like air bags and reduce the force of the impact with the tissue.