Thursday 31 May 2012

Vinegar science experiments

Fun things to do with vinegar:
Vinegar and baking soda make a  chemical reaction. They make a gas called carbon dioxide. That's boring but the things you can make with it aren't boring.

We have a lot of science kits, and one of them came with a plastic volcano. You put vinegar and red food colour in, and then you put in baking soda and put the lid on very fast. The baking soda reaches the vinegar and hisses out. It shot up very high and made mess in the kitchen. When it gets enough gas it explodes. Gas makes real volcanoes explode too.

We use vinegar and baking soda to make a rocket fly too. Our rocket goes really high. We played with this all day today. It is called "Cosmic Rocket". Mom did it first I gave her goggles  but she didn't wear them. It blew up too soon and Mom got it all over, even in her mouth. It was funny  - it would have been more funny if it was Dad. Then I made the rocket go until I ran out vinegar. I went to to the shop more but I ran out again.
We also made a super bubbler by just pouring vinegar on baking soda.

Alien egg;
We made an alien egg by adding vinegar and green food colour to a cup with an egg. The vinegar rotted off the shell, so the egg only has a squishy stuff called a membrane. The egg is see through and green - we pretend it is an alien egg. We have kept it for 3 weeks now. It feels squishy and wet.

Blow a balloon: Put baking soda ina balloon  add vinegar and tie it. It didn't get very big - but it did grow.

Explosions: This is really fun when it works but Mom has to help. You need magnesium tape. Smash it up and put it in a test tube. Add enough vinegar to cover tape. Mom cooks this with a spirit burner, and then shakes it. You have to keep your finger on the top. Take your finger off fast and hold  match over tube. It makes  a bang. Mom really jumped the first time. We got to try it later. But if you aren't fast enough it doesn't work.

Angry Dad:
We made angry Dad! We put vinegar in the super soaker. It stung his eyes and now he stinks. He was very angry but it was very funny - try it with your Dad.


*Mom's note the volcano came in Galt's Horrible Science Explosive Experiments
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/child-development/galt-horrible-science-explosive-experiments/1638941/
You can make a volcano from paper mache or sand if you don't have one.

The rocket used was Science Museum Cosmic Rocket.
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/novelty-toys/great-gizmos-science-museum-cosmic-rocket/1485124/

We used magnesium tape from Trends chemistry set, but you can buy it seperately online. It needs to be kept  in a sealed bag or conatiner - if it get exposed to the open air and dampness it will not work as well. The vinegar and magnesium create hydrogen gas, but it is safe in this quanity.  Do not try to make  a bigger bang with a larger quanity though. If you don't have a spirit burner you can use a tea light. You just hold the bottom of the test tube in the flame. The test tube will go black at the bottom but it washes off easily. This was brilliant when we were studying airships and the Hindenburg explosion.

Introduction

My name is Billy and I am 8 years old, so I am posting under my Mom's account. This blog will be all about the fun projects, trips and experiments we try as part of my school work. I am in P5 and home educated. My favourite subject is science and we do all sorts of fun experiments. I especially like anything from the Mesozoic era. I like dinosaurs but I like the plants and bugs from then too. I also like carnivorous plants, or just ones that attract different bugs.

I would like to hear from other kids who are home educated so please leave a message if you visit.