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What will you discover?
What will you discover?
Click here for the directions to try it at home!
Click here for the directions to try it at home!
Elephant Toothpaste
Elephant Toothpaste
You all know Hydrogen Peroxide is used to clean up cuts and scrapes! But did you know it is a liquid made from hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms (its chemical formula is H2O2). You usually find it in a 3 percent concentration (there are higher concentrations, but they are harder to find and can be dangerous). When hydrogen peroxide breaks down, it turns into oxygen (O2) and water (H2O). This happens naturally but you can add a catalyst (a material that makes reactions happen faster) to speed up the reaction! Catalase is a catalyst that is found in yeast makes hydrogen peroxide break down faster.
This means that if you mix yeast with hydrogen peroxide, the hydrogen peroxide quickly breaks down into water and oxygen which forms bubbles from the soap. As the bubbles are forming you will also notice that the reaction is heating up! This is because it is an exothermic reaction (a chemical reaction that releases heat). The bottle will feel warm, and if you pay close attention you may see steam coming off the top of the foam!
The elephant toothpaste is an example of a chemical reaction. A chemical reaction is when two substances combine with one another and form something new with new characteristics! Think about rush forming from metal exposed to water, a log burning and turning into ash, or a cake being baked in the oven! Examples of chemical reactions are all around us. How can you tell what is a chemical reaction and what is something just changing the way it looks? The best way is to look for a new substance that is nothing like the original substance because it has completely different properties! Chemical reactions are also often either exothermic (release heat and feel warm) or endothermic (absorb heat, and feel cold).
Want to try this at home? Click Here!
Want to try this at home? Click Here!
Where does hot air go?
Where does hot air go?
This spiral paper is moving because of the hot air that rises as the candle is burning. It answers the question where does the hot air go? Hot air goes up as the cold air goes down. This exchange between the hot air and cold air creates the wind. This spiral convection is a simple set up to show the movement of the hot air. This concept is applied in so many ways, an example is in choosing where to sit in a movie house. Which would you prefer? If you prefer the hot air that goes up stay on the upper part of the theater or if you prefer the cooler part, stay in the lower part of the movie house!
Click Here to try this at home!
Click Here to try this at home!
Giant Fingerprints
Giant Fingerprints
Fingers have pictures on them that tell who they belong to, and everybody has their own unique fingerprint. That means no two fingerprints are the same! The pattern of your fingerprint is different from everybody else’s, and your fingerprint will always look the same for your whole life--the same, but bigger and bigger as you grow. How it looks when you’re a tiny baby is the same as how it will look when you are all grown up--except it’ll be bigger, just like your whole self will be bigger. You can use stamp ink and a balloon to examine your fingerprint, compare it to someone else’s, and even see what it would look like if you were a giant!
Click Here to access directions to try this activity at home!
Click Here to access directions to try this activity at home!
Dancing Frankenworms
Dancing Frankenworms
This festive and easy experiment explains the power of chemical reactions to even our youngest of students.
The combination of baking soda and vinegar by themselves are harmless. But once we mix the two together and come in contact with each other it’s a showdown! They create something new when they are mixed together, and the bubbles are just that. Essentially, bubbles of air are created and push their way to the top. In doing so they bring the gummy worms with them. It’s carbonic acid’s world and the worms are just living in it!
Click Here to get the directions to try this at home!
Click Here to get the directions to try this at home!
Bubbles and Surface Tension
Bubbles and Surface Tension
Have you ever tried to make a bubble using water? Did you find that it did not work very well? This is because the water molecules are strongly attracted to each other and will not easily stretch apart fo form large bubbles. By adding soap to our water, we are lowering the surface tension of the water. This allows us to blow bubbles!
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