Chemistry Experiments

Dancing Spaghetti

You will need a large beaker, a 100 mL graduated cylinder, vinegar, baking soda, water and broken spaghetti. Fill the beaker with water, leaving enough room for baking soda and vinegar. Add two tablespoons of baking soda to the water and mix thoroughly. Put eight to ten pieces of broken spaghetti in the beaker and wait until the spaghetti settles to the bottom. Measure and pour 100 mL of vinegar into the beaker. A chemical reaction will take place, causing the spaghetti to move in the beaker. Repeat experiment with different ratios of water, vinegar, and baking soda.

Mystical Cloud

You will need rubber gloves, eye protection, a graduated cylinder, an opaque bottle, a rubber stopper or bottle cap, a tea bag, 30% hydrogen peroxide, and potassium chloride. Put on your rubber gloves and safety goggles before you start the experiment. Pour 50 mL of 30% hydrogen peroxide into the opaque bottle and cap the bottle. Carefully open the tea bag and remove the tea leaves. Put one-quarter tbsp.of potassium iodide to the tea bag and tie closed leaving enough string to overlap the lip of the bottle. When you are ready, open the bottle and slowly lower the tea bag into the hydrogen peroxide using the string. Point the mouth of the bottle in a safe direction. An exothermic reaction will take place and release oxygen. A large cloud will form and come out of the mouth of the bottle. Explain what reaction took place and how the oxygen was released.

Rocket Launch

All rockets are launched by a combustion of chemicals. Students' science project can investigate how best to launch a miniature "rocket" with a combustion of baking soda and vinegar. Decorate an empty plastic film canister to look like a rocket. Place 1 teaspoon of baking soda mixed with 1/8 of a teaspoon of water into the depression of the canister lid. Fill the canister body with vinegar, quickly snap on the lid and place it on the ground. A chemical reaction should occur, causing the lid to pop off and the "rocket" to fly into the air. Measure how high the rocket flies and record it in a notebook. Try the experiment several times using different amounts of baking soda and vinegar to determine the optimum ratio for a high launch.

Dancing Raisins

Use your project to demonstrate how carbon dioxide works when released in water. Fill a beaker halfway with water. Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda to the water and slowly pour vinegar into the water until it begins to bubble. As you pour the vinegar, add a handful of raisins to the vinegar. Carbon dioxide bubbles will attach themselves to the raisins, causing them to float to the top of the beaker. As the raisins meet the surface, the bubbles will break and the raisins will sink toward the bottom of the jar before the whole process repeats. The chemical reaction creates the illusion that the raisins are "dancing."

Potato Chip Rocket Can

Middle school through high school children will learn how rockets launch into space while conducting the exploding rocket can experiment. Empty and cut a small hole into both ends of a tall potato chip can. Connect a methane gas tap to a piece of rubber tubing and fill the can full of gas while covering the second hole. Place the can face down on a stand and ensure that students watch from a safe distance. Light the metal end and back away. In approximately one minute the gas and air will cause the potato chip can to launch.

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