Do you want to become a chemist? Some chemists do science experiments with acids and bases to understand how certain things react with others! Do your own acid/base experiment today!
Materials:
Baking soda (2 cups), salt (2 tablespoons), dish soap (1 teaspoon), water (8 tablespoons), vinegar, measuring cups, a bowl, a baking tin/pan, a squirt bottle (optional), foam cut-outs for decoration (optional).
Time Estimated:
30 minutes
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, combine the following ingredients: 2 cups of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of dish soap, 2 tablespoons of salt, and 8 tablespoons of water.
Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients together! The mixture should look a little crumbly, but it should still be able to make a ball just like dough!
Once the mixture is ready, form 3 different sized balls and place them on the baking pan!
Now it’s time to assemble your snowman! First, stack the “snowballs” on top of each other! Then, decorate your snowman however you’d like using your foam cutouts!
Next, pour your vinegar into the squirt bottle! A cup can also be used as a substitute for the bottle!
Pour the vinegar into the snowman and watch it dissolve! Repeat steps 3-6 as many times as you’d like until your mixture runs out!
Think Like A Scientist:
Why did the baking soda mixture react the way that it did when we poured the vinegar on it?
How It Works:
In this experiment, you learned about acid and base reactions!
A chemical can be acidic or basic. If it has a lot of hydrogen (H+) ions, then it is an acid, but if it has a lot of hydroxide ions (OH-) then it is a base! A quick way to test if a certain food is acidic or basic is to determine whether it tastes sour or bitter. Acids usually taste sour (like lemons), while bases are more bitter (like raw spinach and most vegetables)!
When our acid (the vinegar) was added to the base (the baking soda), they exchanged protons (hydrogen atoms) with each other! In this case, the baking soda took a proton away from vinegar, producing carbon dioxide and water. This explains why the solution started to foam up at the end of the experiment!
Chemists experiment with acids and bases all the time to understand how certain things react with others! For example, in our bodies, our stomachs make something called gastric acid which helps to break down the food we eat! This way, our food can travel safely and smoothly through our bodies! Acids and bases are also used in LOTS of different things like car batteries, plant fertilizers, etc.
P.S. - Because baking soda is also commonly used as a cleanser, the leftovers can be used by your parent and/or guardian as a cleaning agent around the house!
Looking for more fun at home STEM activities for your young scientist? Check out our workbook full of exciting science experiments and empowering activities!
