Make Lemonade Fizzy Drink
There's a lot of people out there that like drinking fizzy drinks, so
why not do a fun science experiment that leaves you with your own
lemon soda to drink afterwards!
A bit of lemon here and a bit of baking soda there and before you
know it you'll be an expert at making your own fizzy drinks. Make
your own lemonade softdrink with this fun experiment for kids.
What you'll need:
Lemon
Drinking glass Water
1 teaspoon of baking soda
Some sugar to make it sweet Instructions:
Squeeze as much of the juice from the lemon as you can into the glass.
- Pour in an equal amount of water as lemon juice.
- Stir in the teaspoon of baking soda.
- Give the mixture a taste and add in some sugar if you think it needs to
- be sweeter.
What's happening?
The mixture you created should go bubbly and taste like a lemonade,
soda, fizzy or soft drink, if you added some sugar it might even taste
like a lemon flavoured soft drink you've bought at a store. The bubbles
that form when you add the baking soda to the lemon mixture are
carbon dioxide (CO2), these are the same bubbles you'll find in proper
fizzy drinks. Of course they add a few other flavored sweeteners but
it's not much different to what you made. If you are wondering how
the carbon dioxide bubbles formed, it was because you created a
chemical reaction when you added the lemon (an acid) to the baking
soda (a base).
Diet Coke & Mentos Eruption
One of the most popular experiments of modern times is the Diet Coke and Mentos Geyser. Made
popular
by Steve Spangler, this experiment is a lot of fun and sure to amaze your friends and family (
assuming you do it outs
ide rather than in the living room).
What you'll need:
Large bottle of Diet Coke
- About half a pack of Mentos
- Geyser tube (optional but makes things much easier)
Instructions:
Make sure you are doing this experiment in a place where you won't get in trouble for getting Diet
Coke everywhere. Outside on some grass is perfect, please don't try this one in your family lounge!!
- Stand the Diet Coke upright and unscrew the lid. Put some sort of funnel or tube on top of it so
- you can drop the Mentos in at the same time (about half the pack is a good amount). Doing this part
can be tricky if you don't have a specially designed geyser tube, I recommend buying one from
a local store
~be tricky if you don't have a specially designed geyser tube, I recommend buying one from
a local store
such as Natures Discoveries (NZ) or online.
Time for the fun part, drop the Mentos into the Diet Coke and run like mad! If you've done it properly a huge geyser of Diet Coke
should come flying out of the bottle, it's a very impressive sight. The record is about 9 metres (29 feet) high!
What's happening?
Although there are a few different theories around about how this experiment works, the most favoured reason is because of the
combination of carbon dioxide in the Diet Coke and the little dimples found on Mentos candy pieces.
The thing that makes soda drinks bubbly is the carbon dioxide that is pumped in when they bottle the drink at the factory. It
doesn't get released from the liquid until you pour it into a glass and drink it, some also gets released when you open the lid
(more if you shake it up beforehand). This means that there is a whole lot of carbon dioxide gas just waiting to escape the liquid
in the form of bubbles.
Dropping something into the Diet Coke speeds up this process by both breaking the surface tension of the liquid and also
allowing bubbles to form on the surface area of the Mentos. Mentos candy pieces are covered in tiny dimples (a bit like a golf
ball), which dramatically increases the surface area and allows a huge amount of bubbles to form.
The experiment works better with Diet Coke than other sodas due to its slightly different ingredients and the fact that it isn't so
sticky. I also found that Diet Coke that had been bottled more recently worked better than older bottles that might have lost
some of their fizz sitting on shop shelves for too long, just check the bottle for the date.
Blowing Up Balloons With CO2
Chemical reactions make for some great experiments. Make use of the carbon dioxide given off by a baking soda and lemon juice
reaction by funnelling the gas through a soft drink bottle. Blowing up balloons was never so easy!
What you'll need:
Balloon
- About 40 ml of water (a cup is about 250 ml so you don't need much)
- Soft drink bottle
- Drinking straw
- Juice from a lemon
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
Instructions:
Before you begin, make sure that you stretch out the balloon to make it as easy as possible to inflate.
- Pour the 40 ml of water into the soft drink bottle.
- Add the teaspoon of baking soda and stir it around with the straw until it has dissolved.
- Pour the lemon juice in and quickly put the stretched balloon over the mouth of the bottle.
What's happening?
If all goes well then your balloon should inflate! Adding the lemon juice to the baking soda creates a chemical reaction. The
baking soda is a base, while the lemon juice is an acid, when the two combine they create carbon dioxide (CO2). The gas rises
up and escapes through the soft drink bottle, it doesn't however escape the balloon, pushing it outwards and blowing it up. If you
don't have any lemons then you can substitute the lemon juice for vinegar.
Make an Easy Lava Lamp
Learn how to make an easy lava lamp with this fun science experiment for kids. Use simple household items such as vegetable
oil,
food coloring, Alka-Seltzer and a bottle to create chemical reactions and funky balls of color that move around like a real lava
lamp.
What you'll need:
- Water
- A clear plastic bottle
- Vegetable oil
- Food coloring
- Alka-Seltzer (or other tablets that fizz)
Instructions:
Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full (you might want to use a funnel when filling the bottle so you
don't spill anything).
Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full.
Wait until the oil and water have separated.
Add around a dozen drops of food coloring to the bottle (choose any color you like).
Watch as the food coloring falls through the oil and mixes with the water.
Cut an Alka-Seltzer tablet into smaller pieces (around 5 or 6) and drop one of them into the bottle, things should start getting a
little crazy, just like a real lava lamp!
- When the bubbling stops, add another piece of Alka-Seltzer and enjoy the show!
What's happening?
If you've tried our oil and water experiment
you'll know that the two don't mix very well. The oil and water you added to the bottle
separate from each other, with oil on top because it has a lower density than water. The food coloring falls through the oil and
mixes with the water at the bottom. The piece of Alka-Seltzer tablet you drop in after releases small bubbles of carbon dioxide
gas that rise to the top and take some of the colored water along for the ride. The gas escapes when it reaches the top and the
colored water falls back down. The reason Alka-Seltzer fizzes in such a way is because it contains citric acid and baking soda
(sodium bicarbonate), the two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide gas (those are the bubbles that carry
the colored water to the top of the bottle).
Adding more Alka-Seltzer to the bottle keeps the reaction going so you can enjoy your funky lava lamp for longer. If you want to
show someone later you can simply screw on a bottle cap and add more Alka-Seltzer when you need to. When you've finished
all your Alka-Seltzer, you can take the experiment a step further by tightly screwing on a bottle cap and tipping the bottle back
and forth, what happens then?
There should be four experiment above.To find
out more experiments visit http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/easylavalamp.html .That is where I found the experiments above.
~
Make sure you are doing this experiment in a place where you won't get in trouble for getting Diet
Coke everywhere. Outside on some grass is perfect, please don't try this one in your family lounge!!
a local store
~be tricky if you don't have a specially designed geyser tube, I recommend buying one from
a local store
Before you begin, make sure that you stretch out the balloon to make it as easy as possible to inflate.
If all goes well then your balloon should inflate! Adding the lemon juice to the baking soda creates a chemical reaction. The
baking soda is a base, while the lemon juice is an acid, when the two combine they create carbon dioxide (CO2). The gas rises
up and escapes through the soft drink bottle, it doesn't however escape the balloon, pushing it outwards and blowing it up. If you
don't have any lemons then you can substitute the lemon juice for vinegar.
Make an Easy Lava Lamp
Learn how to make an easy lava lamp with this fun science experiment for kids. Use simple household items such as vegetable
oil,
food coloring, Alka-Seltzer and a bottle to create chemical reactions and funky balls of color that move around like a real lava
lamp.
What you'll need:
Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is around one quarter full (you might want to use a funnel when filling the bottle so you
don't spill anything).
Pour in vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full.
Wait until the oil and water have separated.
Add around a dozen drops of food coloring to the bottle (choose any color you like).
Watch as the food coloring falls through the oil and mixes with the water.
Cut an Alka-Seltzer tablet into smaller pieces (around 5 or 6) and drop one of them into the bottle, things should start getting a
little crazy, just like a real lava lamp!
If you've tried our oil and water experiment