Floating bubbles!

MATERIALS :

1. Half cup of baking soda

2. One cup of vinegar

3. Three big transparent containers which are taller than they are deep. (Glass bowls can be used in this case but glass vases are even better.)

4. Bubble making wand and bubble making liquid which is normally soap water.

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. At first put half of the baking soda from the cup into one transparent container and half of the vinegar from the cup into another transparent container.

2. Now combine the remaining baking soda and remaining vinegar in the third transparent container.

3. Observe and record what happens in the container when baking soda and vinegar is combined.

4. Now blow some bubbles into each of the transparent containers using the bubble making wand and bubble making liquid.

5. Observe and record where the bubbles settles.

RESULT :

1. The bubbles created by using the bubble making wand and bubble making liquid should float to the bottom of the transparent containers that have baking soda in it.

2. The bubbles created by using the bubble making wand and bubble making liquid should float to the bottom of the transparent containers that have vinegar in it.

3. The bubbles created by using a bubble making wand and bubble making liquid should float on an invisible layer of gas over the transparent container that have the combination of baking soda and vinegar in it.

EXPLANATION :

When bubble is blown by using a bubble making wand and bubble making liquid or soap water a pretty amount of carbon dioxide which is exhaled by the blower gets trapped inside the bubble. Carbon dioxide is denser than the air. In the transparent containers containing either baking soda or vinegar in them, the blown bubbles float to the bottom because of the carbon dioxide inside the bubbles. But when baking soda and vinegar is combined a chemical reaction occurs, which produces carbon dioxide gas as a by-product. So a layer of carbon dioxide gas is produced inside the transparent container at the bottom. The gas inside the bubble is actually a mixer of carbon dioxide gas and various other kinds of gases. So it is less dense than the pure carbon dioxide. The layer of carbon dioxide which is created inside the transparent container at the bottom is pure carbon dioxide gas. So the gas inside the bubble is less dense than the carbon dioxide layer at the bottom of the transparent container. That’s why the blown bubbles float on top of the invisible layer of carbon dioxide.

Grow or shrink an egg (Is it magic!?!)

MATERIALS :

1. 2 ping pong eggs (See the writing Ping pong egg!)
2. 2 transparent glasses or containers where at least one egg will fit
3. A weight measure machine
4. Some fresh water
5. Half cup of salt

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. At first measure the weight of each ping pong egg on the weight measure machine and then write down or record their weights.
2. Now carefully place one ping pong egg inside each transparent container.
3. Then Put some fresh water into the transparent jars.
4. After that add half cup of slat in one of the transparent or glass containers.
5. Now keep both of the ping pong eggs under observation for about 2 days.
6. Measure the weight of the eggs and record them once a day.

Eggs in fresh and salted water

RESULT :

1. The more time the ping pong egg spends in the pure or fresh water the larger and also heavier it becomes.
2. The more time the ping pong egg spends in the salted water the smaller and also lighter it becomes.

Eggs growing and shrinking!

EXPLANATION : The ping pong eggs actually change their size and weight in a special process which is called osmosis. Osmosis is the process by which water flows from an area where there is a higher concentration or density of water to an area where there is a lower density or concentration of water. When we make a normal egg into a ping pong egg by using vinegar, the calcium in the eggshell actually dissolves. So water can pass through the membrane of a that egg . So in this experiment there are 2 liquid sources. One source is inside the egg and another source is outside the egg which is either fresh/pure water or salted water. In the transparent container with the fresh water, the density or concentration of water is higher outside the egg than inside. In this case the osmosis process causes the pure water outside to flow into the egg. This also makes the egg to grow or inflate which means the membrane now holds a higher density of liquid than before. In the transparent container containing salted water, the concentration of liquid is lower outside the egg than inside. In this case the osmosis process causes the water or liquid inside the egg to flow out of it. This makes the egg shrink or deflate which means that the membrane now holds lower density of liquid than outside the egg.

MORE EXPLANATIONS:  
The membrane around the ping pong egg is a semipermeable membrane which means it doesn’t allow everything into the egg. But some materials such as water can easily freely flow bask and forth through the egg membrane. But the membrane is well designed to keep things like proteins and other large molecules in or out.

MORE EXPERIMENTS FOR YOU:

1. Try this experiment with oil instead of fresh water or salted water. See if water came out of the egg. Observe if there is a layer of water on the ping pong egg shell.
2. After the egg has grown in the fresh water, take it out of the water container and place it in another jar of maple syrup. Maple syrup has a lower water density or concentration than the inside of an egg. See if the egg shrinks. See if the density of the maple syrup changes and it becomes more runny or not?

Volta’s battery or Volta’s cell

MATERIALS :

1. A scissor

2. Some coffee filters

3. Some lemon juice

4. Ten pennies or ten pieces of copper metals

5. Ten nickels or ten pieces of nickel metals

6. Copper wire (Can be obtained from any hardware or electronic store)

7. Four alligator clips (Can be obtained from any hardware or electronic store)

8. A flashlight bulb or a LED (Light Emitting Diode) light (Can be obtained from any hardware or electronic store)

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. At first cut the coffee filters into small pieces just a little bit bigger than a nickel. Give the coffee filters square shape or round shape.

2. Now using lemon juice soak those coffee filters.

3. Now stack the Nickels, pennies and the coffee filters together. Stack them like so that nickel will be on the top, under which will be pennies and under the pennies there would be the coffee filter or filter paper. The whole stack will be aligned in the same way. In this alignment ultimately the nickel or the nickel piece will be at the top of the stack and the coffee filter or the filter paper will be at the bottom of the stack.

4. Connect both end of each wire with an alligator clip.

5. Now using alligator clips attach one end of a wire to the topmost coin of the stack made by you with nickel, pennies and tea filters.

6. Attach one end of another wire with the most bottom coin of the stack using the alligator clips.

7. After that, carefully touch or connect other ends of both of the wires to a small flashlight bulb or a LED (Light Emitting Diode) light.

8. Observe what happens.

RESULT :

When you touch or connect the wires using the alligator clips to the flashlight bulb or LED (Light Emitting Diode) light it should light up.

EXPLANATION :

In this experiment electrons actually flow through the voltaic pile or the Volta’s pile which is the stack made by you using nickel, pennies and tea filters or paper filters. The two different coins act as electrodes. The lemon juice acts as an electrolytic solution which conducts electrons. The flow of electrons among the coins through the lemon juice/the electrolytic juice/the conductive juice creates a difference in electrical potential between the two types of metal. This difference is called voltage. When the circuit is completed with the conductive copper wire and the flashlight bulb or the LED (Light Emitting Diode) light electricity or more specifically electrons flow through the voltaic pile or the Volta’s pile and lights the bulb or LED (Light Emitting Diode) light. The more layers you have in your voltaic pile or Volta’s pile the greater the difference in electrical potential between the top and bottom of the pile/stack and greater the voltage will be.

MORE EXPLANATIONS:

In the year 1800 a scientist named Alexandra Volta showed that electricity could be produced through a chemical reaction. The voltaic pile which was invented by him was able to produce a steady stream of electricity in a very simple way. The experiment which is described here is actually a simplified version of Volta’s famous breakthrough that led to the creation of modern batteries. Actually Volta did this almost same experiment with zinc and silver disks. He used salt water as electrolyte. Using these he was able to invent world’s first battery that could actually deliver a sustained electric charge.

MORE EXPERIMENTS FOR YOU :

1. Use different kinds of and different combinations of coins such as dimes and quarters (Simply use coins made with different metals).

2. Use alternative strips of aluminum foil and steel.

3. Use a voltmeter to measure and compare the amount of electricity different combinations of coins or metals produced.

4. Try this experiment by using dry coffee filters or filter papers.

What the rock is that?!

MATERIALS :

1. Marble gravel (Can be obtained from any gardening supply stores)

2. A small piece of slate (Can be obtained from any gardening stores)

3. A small piece of limestone (Can be obtained from any gardening supply stores)

4. Small rocks from around your house

5. White vinegar

6. A few transparent drinking glasses or transparent bowls (Should be large enough to hold the rock samples collected.)

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. At first label the transparent glass or bowls. Label one glass or bowl “marble”, another one “slate”, another one “limestone” and finally another one “around the house”.

2. Place the rocks in the glasses or bowls based on the labels.

3. Now put some vinegar into each glass to completely submerge the rocks.

4. Observe what happens in each of the glasses and write about your observations

RESULT :

1. Bubbles should appear in the glass or bowl containing marble.

2. There is no reaction in the glass containing slate i.e. the situation in the glass or bowl.

3. Bubbles should appear in the glass or bowl containing limestone.

4. Depending on what kinds of rocks they are the rocks around your house you may or may not see bubbles.

EXPLANATION :

Marble and limestone and also many other rocks contain a chemical compound which is called calcium carbonate. When calcium carbonate comes into contact with an acidic substance such as vinegar a chemical reaction takes place. The bubbles are actually the proof of that chemical reaction which takes place between the transparent glass or bowl. Slate do not have calcium carbonate. So it does not react with the vinegar. The original chemical reaction which takes place between the calcium carbonate and the vinegar i.e. the acetic acid creates calcium acetate which is a soluble water and carbon dioxide gas (CO2). You see bubbles when actually carbon dioxide gas is started to produce.

MORE EXPLANATIONS:

Many old or more correctly ancient buildings like the buildings which were made by Romans or Greeks were actually made of marble. The damage of these ancient Roman or Greek buildings is increased because of natural phenomena such as acid rain.

MORE EXPERIMENTS FOR YOU :

1. Bones contain calcium carbonate. So try a chicken or a birds bone in this experiment.

2. Try using sea shells in this experiment to see what happens.

3. Use fish bone to see if the fish bone has any calcium carbonate or not?