One of our all time favourite science experiments is the erupting colours experiment. This easy to do experiment can be done with items that you will most likely have in your home!
Impress your child with the knowledge too of what’s happening when you mix the ingredients and explain to them how it all works!
Here’s what you will need:
- White Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Food Colouring
- Small plastic or glass dishes (we used shot glasses from the dollar store)
- A syringe or eye dropper (makes things feel more official too!)
First line your cups up on the counter. Place a bit of baking soda in each one. Then place food colouring in each cup. Do NOT add the vinegar yet!
Place your vinegar in a small dish. Line up your containers on a cookie sheet and some paper so that you have an easy clean up when your experiment is done. Plus my kids loved seeing the different colours that exploded onto the paper.
Take a little bit of vinegar and place it in your eye dropper. Once you drop your vinegar into the baking soda/food colouring mix…watch the magic happen!
Here’s what happens (this is when you can look REALLY smart with your kiddos! 😉 …
When vinegar (dilute acetic acid) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) are mixed together, hydrogen ions in the vinegar react with the sodium and bicarbonate ions in the baking soda. The results in a first reaction that creates two new chemicals: carbonic acid and sodium acetate.
The second reaction is a decomposition reaction. The carbonic acid was formed because of the first reaction immediately beginning to decompose into water and carbon dioxide gas.
Just like carbon dioxide bubbles in a carbonated drink like pop, the carbon dioxide (that formed as the carbonic acid decomposed) rises to the top of the mixture. This causes the bubbles and foam you see when you mix baking soda and vinegar together!
I love being able to see the different colours and seeing my boy’s reaction each time we did it!
You can also watch our live video on Facebook when we did it live for our followers. Watch it HERE.
If you’re looking for other science experiments to do, check out the Bouncing Egg experiment HERE and the Walking Water experiment HERE. Science is a must around our house!
NOTE: You will see how if you leave the baking soda and food colouring too long that it settles and doesn’t explode as much and you must squeeze a lot of vinegar at once for it to explode good.
I also suggest putting the food colouring on top instead of the bottom so that it explodes better!
Our Easter Singles are here and a few of them are almost SOLD out already! Be sure to get yours and send a child a box filled with Easter crafts and activities! Check them out HERE.
