Top 3 At-Home Science Experiments

1. Elephant Toothpaste

Elephant toothpaste is a popular, messy experiment that I am sure many of you have heard of. It is a chemical reaction that happens between yeast, hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing soap.

Material:

· ½ cup of 6% hydrogen peroxide

· 1 tablespoon of dry yeast

· 3 tablespoons of warm water

· Dishwashing Soap

· Food colouring (Optional)

· Plastic bottle

· Funnel

· Gloves and goggles

Method:

First, stir in the yeast and the warm water together, let it sit. Combine the dishwashing soap, hydrogen peroxide, and food colouring inside the plastic bottle. Finally, pour the yeast mixture inside the bottle using a funnel. Quickly remove the funnel and the reaction will happen right in front of your eyes!

Safety Precautions:

Make sure you are wearing gloves and goggles when doing this as hydrogen peroxide is a harmful substance. Therefore, it is important not to spill the hydrogen peroxide. This may get messy so you will need to place a tray under the bottle. When pouring the yeast into the bottle, make sure that you keep your distance, so the bottle doesn’t spill onto you.

So, how does this work?

The yeast acts as a catalyst for the hydrogen peroxide and the liquid soap. This means it speeds up a reaction that would usually happen slowly. There was a lot of oxygen in the peroxide in the first place. Because it did this so fast, it resulted in large amounts of oxygen taking the shape of bubbles. The oxygen needs to be quickly pushed out of the bottle. At the same time, the soap combines with the water during the breakdown process to make foam. The bottle gets warm during this experiment as it is an Exothermic Reaction which created heat.

2. Lava Lamps

This next experiment has been around for decades. Yet, it is still a popular and fun science experiment today.

Material:

· Water

· A clear bottle

· Vegetable oil (but baby and mineral oil work as well).

· Alka Seltzer (these are fizzy tablets.)

· Food colouring

Instructions:

First, fill 1 fourth of the clear bottle with water. Now add the vegetable oil until the bottle is almost full. Let that sit until the vegetable oil and water is separated. Put in a few drops of food colouring. Finally, try turning off the lights and using a flashlight as you drop in half a tablet of Alka Seltzer and watch the magic happen in front of your eyes!

How does it works?

The water is denser than the oil, so it sinks to the bottom. The fizzy tablets, then, dissolve to make carbon dioxide bubbles. Because gas is lighter than the liquid it floats to the top.

Extensions:

What happens if you put the cap on after dropping the fizzy tablet in?

What if you drop a whole tablet in?

When it stops bubbling, try sprinkling some salt into your lava lamp. What happens?

3. Floating Ink Experiment

The floating ink experiment will make your artwork come to life! This is a dry erase experiment that is fun and will blow your mind! The material to this is simple it is easy and doesn’t take long.

Material:

· Dry erase marker

· Tray or pan

· Water

Instructions:

Draw something on the tray or pan with your dry erase marker. Pour the water over your drawing. You can blow on the water or move your drawing with your finger.

This happens because the dry erase marker is insoluble, and it is less dense so it floats to the top.