THERE ARE MANY SIMPLE CHEMICAL REACTIONS YOU CAN DO WITH INGREDIENTS YOU HAVE IN THE KITCHEN. IN FACT, EVERY TIME YOU MAKE COOKIES OR PANCAKES, YOU CREATE A CHEMICAL REACTION TO MAKE THEM RISE.

What’s a chemical reaction? It’s simpler than you might think.

Everything in our world is made of tiny pieces called atoms. Atoms are often connected to other atoms to form groups of linked atoms called molecules. A water molecule, for example, has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, bonded together.

A chemical reaction occurs when you mix two different kinds of molecules together to make one or more new kinds of molecules. In other words, it’s just mixing two things together to make something new. You can often tell chemical reactions are happening when you see bubbles, feel a temperature difference, notice an odor, or watch a color change.

This unit contains fun chemical reactions that let you mix things together to make carbon dioxide gas.

MAKE RED CABBAGE JUICE CHANGE COLOR AND FOAM OVER IN THIS BRILLIANT, BUBBLY EXPERIMENT.

  Pot

  Blender (optional, see note)

  Water

  Heatproof spoon

  Clear glasses, jars, or small bowls

  Colander

  White paper towels

  1 heaping teaspoon (5 g) baking soda

  3 tablespoons (45 ml) white vinegar

STEP 2: Boil the cabbage uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

STEP 3: Remove from the heat, let the juice cool, and strain the purple juice into a jar or bowl. Pour about 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the cabbage juice, or “magic potion,” into each of two clear glasses, jars, or bowls and set them on a white paper towel.

STEP 4: Add the baking soda to one glass of cabbage juice and stir. Observe the color change. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Add the baking soda to one glass of cabbage juice.

STEP 5: To the second glass, add the vinegar and see what color it turns. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Add the vinegar to the other glass of cabbage juice.

STEP 6: Pour the glass of cabbage juice containing vinegar (pink) into the glass of cabbage juice containing the baking soda (blue/green). (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3: Pour the pink cabbage juice into the blue cabbage juice.

Fig. 4: Watch the chemical reaction.

Fig. 5: The bubbles contain carbon dioxide gas.

Note: To avoid needing to use the stove, chop half of a head of red cabbage and blend it in a blender with about 3 cups (710 ml) of water. Strain the liquid through a colander and then through a coffee filter in a plastic bag with one corner cut off. Blended cabbage juice makes longer-lasting bubbles and turns a slightly brighter shade of blue.

MAKE A KITCHEN-TABLE KRAKATOA.

  Tape

  Empty plastic water or soda bottle

  White vinegar

  Food coloring

  1/4 cup (55 g) baking soda (plus more for step 9)

STEP 2: Tear, cut, fold, crumple, and tape the bag to form a cone shape that will sit over the bottle, with the mouth of the bottle sticking through the cut corner of the bag, but don’t tape the bag to the bottle. Decorate your volcano.

STEP 3: Remove the bottle from the bag and fill it halfway full of vinegar. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Add vinegar to the bottle.

STEP 4: Add several drops of food coloring to your “lava.” (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Use food coloring to tint your lava.

STEP 5: Place the bag back over the bottle to hide the lava container.

STEP 6: Tape a piece of paper together to form a cone with a hole on one end that will fit inside the mouth of your volcano. You’ll use this as a funnel to add the baking soda.

STEP 7: Place the volcano on a tray or container to contain the overflow.

STEP 8: Start the eruption by quickly pouring 1/4 cup (55 g) of baking soda through the cone into the volcano. Remove the cone immediately. (Fig. 3, 4)

Fig. 3: Pour the baking soda into your volcano.

Fig. 4: Stand back!

STEP 9: When your volcano stops erupting, try adding more baking soda to see what happens.

WATCH A BUBBLY CHEMICAL REACTION INFLATE A BALLOON WITH INVISIBLE CARBON DIOXIDE GAS.

  1/3 cup (80 ml) vinegar

  3 teaspoons (14 g) baking soda

  Spoon

STEP 2: Hold the mouth of the balloon open and use a spoon to pour 3 teaspoon (14 g) or so of baking soda into the balloon. This takes two people, one to hold the balloon open and one to add the soda. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Add baking soda to the balloon with a helper.

STEP 3: Shake the soda down into the “bulb” or the main part of the balloon. Carefully stretch the mouth of the balloon completely over the mouth of the bottle, keeping the main part of the balloon off to one side, so the baking soda isn’t dumped into the bottle until you’re ready. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Put the mouth of the balloon over the bottle’s mouth, but keep the baking soda off to one side.

STEP 4: Holding the mouth of the balloon on the bottle, shake the soda into the bottle, all at once. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3: Shake the baking soda into the bottle quickly, all at once.

BRING GUMMY WORMS TO “LIFE” WITH A SIMPLE CHEMICAL REACTION.

  3 tablespoons (42 g) baking soda

  1 cup (235 ml) warm water

  Spoon

  Jar or clear drinking glass

  White vinegar

  Fork

PROTOCOL

STEP 1: Using scissors or kitchen shears, make super-skinny gummy worms by cutting them into long strips. Cut each worm lengthwise at least four times. The skinnier you make your worms, the better they’ll work. (Fig. 1, 2)

Fig. 1: Cut the gummy worms into very thin strips.

Fig. 2: The thinner they are, the better they’ll work.

STEP 2: Mix the baking soda with the warm water. Stir well. Drop your skinny gummy worms into the baking soda solution. Let them soak for 15 to 20 minutes. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3: Soak your gummy worms in the baking soda solution.

STEP 3: While your worms are soaking, fill a clear glass or jar with vinegar.

STEP 4: When the 20 minutes are up, fish the gummy worms out of the baking soda solution with a fork and drop them into the glass of vinegar to bring them to “life.” (Fig. 4, 5)

Fig. 4: Drop the baking soda–soaked worms into the vinegar.

Fig. 5: Watch them wriggle and float.

CREATE A FOUNTAIN OF FOAM WITH SODA AND MINTS.

  Roll of Mentos mints

STEP 2: Roll the paper into a tube so it will just fit into the mouth of the bottle. The tube must be big enough to hold the mints. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Make a paper tube for the mints.

STEP 3: Put your finger over the hole in the bottom of the tube and fill it with the mints. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Fill the tube with mints.

STEP 4: Quickly empty the mints, all at once, from the paper tube into the bottle and stand back! (Fig. 3, 4, 5)

Fig. 3: Empty the mints from the tube into the bottle.

Fig. 4: The mints will react with the Diet Coke to make carbon dioxide gas.

Fig. 5: Stand back!