Tired of baking soda volcanoes? Here’s a different twist on the classic baking soda and vinegar reaction.
Materials Needed:
- A glass jar or beaker
- Water
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Popcorn
How to:
- Put some water in your beaker. Dissolve about three tablespoons of baking soda into it.
- Add a handful of popcorn.
- Pour in about a cup of vinegar, and wait for the magic to happen!
Note that we’re not making watches here, so exact amounts are inconsequential. You can increase the amount of baking soda or vinegar or both to speed up the reaction to your liking. If you are into color-mixing like my guys are, you can add a little food coloring to both the baking soda mixture and the vinegar.
Concepts to Explore:
- States of matter. Here we have a solid (baking soda) and a liquid (vinegar) reacting to form a gas (carbon dioxide). Performing the reaction in a beaker of water like this makes it easy to see the carbon dioxide.
- What is a chemical reaction? How is it different from a physical reaction?
- What factors speed up or slow down the reaction?
- How long will the reaction last? Take a guess and then time it!
- Why do materials sink or float? What causes the corn to go up and down?
- What other objects will behave in the same way? Experiment with grains of rice, pasta, pebbles, etc. Keep a record of your results.
Have fun, and share your results in the comments!
Five Minute Science: Dancing Popcorn