We all need a little bit of fun in our lives. We also could use a little bit of learning! This week, both worlds collide into one super fun family date night! Feel free to check out http://www.sciencefun.org/ for tons of great ideas and at-home experience that are perfect for kids!
Believe me, most kids are super into "Sciency" stuff. That's why this week, we want you to make a soda explode or bounce an egg! It'll be some fun family memories in the making!
Let's start with a science class favorite- volcanos!
When it comes to making a volcano at home, there are basically 2 schools of thought. (Why not do both and then have kids compare/contrast!)
A more gentle lava flow:
And the explosion of a lifetime:
So, please... choose wisely, my friends.
For a more "gentle" volcano experience:
Materials:
10 ml of dish soap
100 ml of cold water
400 ml of white vinegar
Food coloring
Baking soda slurry (fill a cup about ½ with baking soda, then fill the rest of the way with water)
Empty 2 liter soda bottle
Instructions:
NOTE: This should be done outside due to the mess.
Combine the vinegar, water, dish soap and 2 drops of food coloring into the empty soda bottle.
Use a spoon to mix the baking soda slurry until it is all a liquid.
Eruption time! … Pour the baking soda slurry into the soda bottle quickly and step back!
How it Works:
A chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda creates a gas called carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the same type of gas used to make the carbonation in sodas. What happens if you shake up a soda? The gas gets very excited and tries to spread out. There is not enough room in the bottle for the gas to spread out so it leaves through the opening very quickly, causing an eruption!
Extra Experiments:
1. Does the amount of vinegar change the eruption? 2. Does the amount of water change the eruption? 3. Does the amount of baking soda change the eruption?
For the "Big One":
NOTE: This should be done outside due to the mess.
Materials:
Roll of Mentos candies (per explosion)
2-liter bottle of diet soda
Instructions:
First, you need to stack the candies. The easiest way to do this is to stack them in a test tube narrow enough to form a single column. Otherwise, you can roll a sheet of paper into a tube just barely wide enough for a stack of candies.
Place an index card over the opening of the test tube or end of the paper tube to hold the candies in the container. Invert the test tube.
Open your full 2-liter bottle of diet soda. The eruption happens very quickly, so set things up: you want the open bottle/index card/roll of candies so that as soon as you remove the index card, the candies will drop smoothly into the bottle.
When you're ready, do it! You can repeat the eruption with the same bottle and another stack of candies. Have fun!
How it works:
The Diet Coke and Mentos geyser is the result of a physical process rather than a chemical reaction. There's a lot of carbon dioxide dissolves in the soda, which gives it its fizz. When you drop a Mentos into the soda, tiny bumps on the candy surface give the carbon dioxide molecules a nucleation site or place to stick. As more and more carbon dioxide molecules accumulate, bubbles form. Mentos candies are heavy enough they sink, so they interact with carbon dioxide all the way to the bottom of the container. The bubbles expand as they rise. The partially dissolved candy is sticky enough to trap the gas, forming a foam. Because there's so much pressure, it all happens very quickly. The narrow opening of a soda bottle funnels the foam to make a geyser.
If you use a nozzle that makes the opening at the top of the bottle even smaller, the jet of liquid will go even higher. You can also experiment using regular Coke (as opposed to the diet versions) or tonic water (which glows blue under a black light).