Bubble Balance
Bubble Balance
You need:
- Bubble solution (from Soap Spheres experiment)
- Empty bucket
- Measuring cups
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
Directions:
1. Place the bucket in an indoor area (with no draft).
2. Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the bucket.
3. Gently pour 1 cup of vinegar into the bucket. The contents
will start to fizz.
4. Once the fizzing stops, blow bubbles gently over the bucket
so they fall inside. (Blowing the bubbles directly into the bucket will
cause the experiment to fail.)
5. Where do the bubbles land?
Explanation:
Your bubbles are floating on top of a chemical reaction!
Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base. Acids contain
particles called hydrogens, and bases contain particles called
hydroxides. Mixing acids and bases together creates an acid and
base reaction that connects the hydrogens with the hydroxides,
which makes water!
Baking soda is a base that contains carbonate. (The scientific
name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.) During the acid
and base reaction, the carbonate also reacts and forms carbon
dioxide This is the gas that caused the fizzing in the bucket.
The air that you exhaled contained both oxygen and carbon dioxide,
so the bubbles you made were filled with a lighter gas mixture than
the carbon dioxide produced from the acid-base reaction.
Because carbon dioxide is heavier than air, the gas stayed in the
bottom of the bucket. The bubbles you blew into the bucket
stopped falling partway, because they were supported by a layer of
carbon dioxide that was produced from the acid and base reaction!
You need:
- Bubble solution (from Soap Spheres experiment)
- Empty bucket
- Measuring cups
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
Directions:
1. Place the bucket in an indoor area (with no draft).
2. Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the bucket.
3. Gently pour 1 cup of vinegar into the bucket. The contents
will start to fizz.
4. Once the fizzing stops, blow bubbles gently over the bucket
so they fall inside. (Blowing the bubbles directly into the bucket will
cause the experiment to fail.)
5. Where do the bubbles land?
Explanation:
Your bubbles are floating on top of a chemical reaction!
Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base. Acids contain
particles called hydrogens, and bases contain particles called
hydroxides. Mixing acids and bases together creates an acid and
base reaction that connects the hydrogens with the hydroxides,
which makes water!
Baking soda is a base that contains carbonate. (The scientific
name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.) During the acid
and base reaction, the carbonate also reacts and forms carbon
dioxide This is the gas that caused the fizzing in the bucket.
The air that you exhaled contained both oxygen and carbon dioxide,
so the bubbles you made were filled with a lighter gas mixture than
the carbon dioxide produced from the acid-base reaction.
Because carbon dioxide is heavier than air, the gas stayed in the
bottom of the bucket. The bubbles you blew into the bucket
stopped falling partway, because they were supported by a layer of
carbon dioxide that was produced from the acid and base reaction!
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