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Chemical Reaction Volcano

Sometimes when chemicals come together they react.  These are called chemical reactions.  Chemical reactions happen all around us every day, they are even happening inside you right now!  Watch Sydney make a chemical reaction volcano.  She will also show you some of the really cool things chemical reactions can do.

Try some of the chemical reactions we did

Chemical Reaction 1:

Baking soda and vinegar

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This is a great example of an acid-base chemical reaction.  The baking soda is a base whereas the vinegar is an acid.  When the two are mixed together they react!  This reaction is very exciting because it makes a lot of gas, carbon dioxide gas.  You most likely already have baking soda and vinegar in your kitchen.  Grab an adult and check it out.

 

What you need:

  • Baking soda - (used for making cakes and cookies)

  • Vinegar - (used in food like pickles and used as a household cleaner)

  • Jar - (to mix the two together)

  • Safety glasses - (always wear glasses when working with chemical reactions!)

Chemical Reaction 2:

Citric acid and baking soda

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Brrrrrr is it getting cold in here?  When citric acid and baking soda are mixed with water they create an endothermic chemical reaction.  That means they use up energy in the form of heat and get colder.  This chemical reaction is one of my favorites.  You don’t need a thermometer to see the difference, just touch the jar and you can feel how cold it gets, and it gets pretty cold!

 

What you need:

  • Baking soda - (used for making cakes and cookies)

  • Citric acid - (check the “pickling section” in your grocery store and you will find this there)

  • Water - (you can mix the baking soda and citric acid together, but nothing will happen without water)

  • Jar - (to mix it all together)

  • Safety glasses - (always wear glasses when working with chemical reactions!)

Chemical Reaction 3:

Yeast and hydrogen-peroxide

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Now it’s getting hot!  When you mix yeast with hydrogen-peroxide you make heat.  In this reaction you convert energy in the form of heat and the mixture gets hotter.  This is called an exothermic chemical reaction.  Don’t worry it won’t get too hot but you should be able to feel it get a little warmer.  You probably have the stuff for this experiment in your kitchen too so grab an adult and let’s do it!

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What you need:

  • Yeast - (used for making bread)

  • Hydrogen-peroxide - (used to get dirt out of cuts)

    • A lot of people think hydrogen-peroxide kills germs.  It doesn’t!  But you can use it on cuts to get dirt out because it foams up and makes bubbles.  It creates this exact chemical reaction when it touches your blood because your cells have the same enzyme the yeast does that makes this chemical reaction happen.  The enzyme is called catalase.

  • Jar - (to mix it all together)

  • Safety glasses - (always wear glasses when working with chemical reactions!)

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