by Dr. Shanthi Thomas
You can do fun experiments with things you use every day, like food items. With just the right ingredients in the right way, ordinary things can be made to behave in unusual and strange ways. Let us look at some popular and fun experiments in food science.
Dancing raisins is one of the experiments using the baking soda and vinegar reaction. This simple science experiment will be a sure hit with small children.
Materials needed
Steps
Notes
In case the raisins do not move, it could be because there is not enough vinegar. Try adding a little more vinegar. If it still does not work, you can try cutting the raisins into still smaller pieces.
The science behind
Vinegar (an acid) reacts with baking soda (a base) to form carbon dioxide, a gas. Basically, When baking soda and vinegar are added to water, many bubbles form in the water, which rise to the surface and pop. When the raisin pieces are put in the water, the bubbles stick to the surface of the objects, and increase their buoyancy, causing them to rise to the surface with the bubbles. The bubbles pop at the surface of the liquid, and the objects, which on their own are denser than the liquid, fall back to the bottom. On the way down and at the bottom, they collect more bubbles, thus causing the process to repeat several times Eventually, enough of the reactants will be used up so the process will be stopped, or enough air bubbles will get trapped inside the raisins so that remain floating on the surface.
Cranberry secret messages are a cool experiment that is a hit with kids of all ages.
Materials needed
Steps
Notes
The Science Behind
Cranberry juice is an acid which contains a special substance called Anthocyanin. The invisible ink you used is a base. When you paint the paper with cranberry juice an acid-base reaction takes place and there is a structural change happening in Anthocyanin which results in the colour change.
Let us see how we can blow up a balloon using yeast.
Materials needed
Steps
The balloon will begin to inflate!
The science behind
When the yeast, a microscopic fungus, eats the sugar, it releases carbon dioxide. The gas occupies the bottle and as more gas is created, it fills the balloon.
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