The physical met the mystical when the NIU Physics department hosted its third annual Haunted Physics Laboratory Saturday in Pecatonica.

The haunted laboratory will have exhibits in Oglesby, Freeport and Dixon in the upcoming weeks, along with its final exhibition at NIU. It includes dozens of physics demonstrations that have Halloween-based themes, said Pati Sievert, coordinator of the Frontier Physics Outreach program at NIU.

The laboratory is geared toward families with children in order to promote physics at a young age and to present it in a fun manner. The laboratory will include disappearing test tubes, funhouse-style mirrors and the anatomy of a lava lamp. Children will be able to participate in hands-on activities such as making kaleidoscopes and creating anamorphic drawings.

The purpose of the lab is to expose children to physics and hopefully get them to look at things around them in a new way, Sievert said.

“Hopefully it’s a way to diminish the scary part of physics,” Sievert said.

The laboratory’s attendance has continued to grow in the past three years, escalating from 250 people in the first year, 2003, to 750 last year. This high level of success played a part in the program receiving a grant to expand the haunted laboratory to neighboring communities.

“We got a grant from the American Physical Society (APS) so we could take it on the road,” Sievert said.

NIU was one of 16 schools to receive the grant. Illinois State University and Chicago State University also received grants for haunted laboratories.

The program also has received a small grant from the NIU Foundation so Sievert can hire students to help her when the laboratory has its final exhibition at NIU. When the laboratory travels to the other scheduled destinations, the host schools are responsible for providing volunteers.

Children are not the only ones who will enjoy the exhibits; people of all ages will find the displays interesting, Sievert said.

Educators who attend the workshop before each exhibition will gain knowledge for the classroom along with other benefits.

“If they sign up for the workshop and come for the day, they can get seven to nine Certified Professional Development Units,” Sievert said.

The laboratory will conclude its road trip from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 29 on the first floor of Faraday Hall. The exhibit will be divided into three areas: one room for the displays using light, one room for the funhouse mirrors and other demonstrations, and another area will host the interactive sites, such as the anamorphic drawings.

Admission to the Haunted Laboratory is free, but donations will be accepted using a disappearing money box, which, like the other exhibits, plays tricks on the mind using physics.

For more information on the Haunted Physics Laboratory, visit www.physics.niu.edu/frontier.