Science Projects

Speedy Stalactites

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How Hot!

Chemistry can be pretty hot, too! An exothermic reaction is one that releases energy in the form ofheat. When vinegar reacts with steel wool, it can chemically remove theprotective coating on the steel wool, allowing it to rust. During the rustingreaction, iron combines with oxygen in the air. Is this a "hot"reaction? Find out!

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How Cold!

Chemistry can be pretty cold. An endothermic reaction is one thathas to absorb energy, usually in the form of heat, in order to proceed. Thismeans that the temperature of the reaction drops. When the citric acid in lemonjuice reacts with baking soda, the reaction can really cool things down.

Key word

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Vampire Suds

The world is full of acids and bases. Lemonjuice is an acid; bleach is a base; vinegar is an acid; baking sodais a base—the list goes on and on. Some chemicals can tell us whether aparticular substance is acidic or basic. These chemicals are called indicators, and they often change colors inthe presence of an acid or base.

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Into (Mostly) Thin Air

Safety Warning

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Science - Project Glossary

acid rain Precipitation that results when pollutants from the airdis solve in water vapor.

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How Much Vitamin C?

It is important to get enough vitamin C in yourdiet. But which juices give you the most vitamin C? And do vitamin-fortifiedjuices really give you more for your money? By using a chemical reaction thatchanges color when there is a certain concentration of vitamin C, you can rankthe vitamin C content of different juices.

When iodine is mixed with a starch solution, itturns a deep purple-blue color. When enough vitamin C is added, the purple-bluecolor disappears. The lower the amount of juice required to make thepurple-blue color disappear, the more vitamin C there is in that juice.

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Mini-Rocket

Combining chemistry and physicscan give you an explosive effect.

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Glue-y Gooey Slime

Polymers are special compounds made oflong chains of molecules They are often rubbery and stringy—rubber bands are agood example of polymers in action. You can make polymers at home using somesimple ingredients. Have some gooey fun with glue!

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Carton Turbine

A turbine is a kind of machine thatrotates. Often turbines are powered by steam, gas, or wind. This turbine willturn powered by water and gravity.

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Packed Tight

Materials

✓ an adult

✓ long nail

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Underwater Fireworks

This experiment isn't reallyabout fireworks, but the burst of color you will create will look a lot likefireworks. Using a bit of food coloring and oil, you can create firework-likeeffects in a tall glass of water. The bursts happen because of how foodcoloring wants to react when it comes into contact with water.

If you've ever dropped a bit offood coloring into water, you've noticed that the color begins to spread almostimmediately. This spreading process is called diffusion. On the other hand, if you'veever dropped a bit of oil into water, you've noticed that the oil never mixeswith the water—the two liquids are immiscible. In this experiment, by mixingthe food coloring with oil before you drop it in the water, you give the foodcoloring a waterproof shield—for a moment. As the oil and food coloring shiftagainst each other, the food coloring eventually finds a hole in the shield andcomes into contact with the water. Then, the color comes bursting out!

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Shrimp Forecast: Clear to Partly Cloudy

Materials

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Spud Power

Potatoes are yummy, but they are also electric! Potatoes contain phosphoric acid, which can be used as an electrolyte to make a battery. All you haveto do is provide two electrodes (a penny and a galvanized nail will work), somewiring, and a small lightbulb.

The phosphoric acid in the potato starts achemical reaction between the copper in the penny and the iron in the nail. Electrons begin to flow, creating an electrical current that flows through thewires and lights the bulb.

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Levitaiion

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Raisin Dance

Drop some raisins into a glassof club soda and watch them magically dance around! Actually, there's no magichere—the raisins fall down because they are denser than the club soda, but whenbubbles from the soda attach to the raisins, the buoyancy of the raisins changes. Withenough attached bubbles, a raisin can actually float—until, of course, thebubbles float off.

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Gelatin Mountains

Staticelectricity, which is what makes your socks stick to other clothes in the dryer, can be apowerful force. When you rub a piece of wool on a latex balloon, the balloonbecomes charged with static electricity. If you hold the charged balloon near apile of unflavored gelatin, the gelatin becomes charged as well, but with theopposite charge. Things that have opposite charges attract, so the gelatinstarts to creep toward the balloon, trying to make contact.

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Full of Hot Air

When air inside a closedcontainer is heated, the air molecules begin to move more quickly and exert a pressure on the sides of the container. In effect, hot air expands, and when that hot air is enclosed in a flexiblecontainer—such as a marshmallow—it can push against the container enough tomake the container expand as well.

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Juice Rocket

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Down the Ramp

Procedure

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