EXPERIMENT 1

This is a simple and interesting science magic trick involving fire and water. All you need
is water, a glass, a plate, and a couple of matches. Pour water into a plate, light a match in
the center of the dish and cover it with a glass. The water will be drawn into the glass.

Match and Water Trick Materials

 plate
 water
 2 wooden matches
 a quarter or other large coin
 colored water
 narrow glass

How to Perform the Trick

1. Pour water into the plate. I colored the water with food coloring to make it easier
to see.
2. Bend one of the matches so that you can set it in the water. Secure the match so
that it is upright by setting a quarter or other small heavy object on the end of the
match stick.
3. Use the second match to light the match that you placed on the plate.
4. Immediately invert a glass over the burning match.
5. The water will flow into the glass and will remain in the glass even after the
match has been extinguished.

EXPERIMENT 2

Here's How:

1. Sprinkle sodium carbonate to coat the bottom of a drinking glass.

2. Fill a second glass halfway full of water. Add ~10 drops phenolphthalein
indicator solution to the water. The glasses can be prepared in advance.
3. To change water into wine or blood, pour the water with indicator into the glass
that contains the sodium carbonate. Stir the contents to mix the sodium carbonate,
and the water will change from clear to red.
4. If you like, you can use a straw to blow air into the red liquid to change it back to
clear.
5. The principle is the same as for the disappearing ink formula. Phenolphthalein is
an acid-base indicator.
Tips:

1. Phenolphthalein and sodium carbonate can be ordered freely from any scientific
supplier. Most grade school and high school science labs have these chemicals,
though you can order them yourself.
2. Don't drink the water/wine/blood. It isn't particularly toxic, but it isn't good for
you either. The liquid can be poured down the drain when the demonstration is
complete.
3. For a normal drinking glass, the ratio used to get the reversible color change
reaction is 5 parts sodium carbonate per 10 drops of a phenolphthalein stock
solution.

What You Need:

• phenolphthalein pH indicator
• sodium carbonate
• water
• 2 glasses
• stirring rod
• straw or pipette

EXPERIMENT 3
Here's a quick and easy science project you can do: make a cloud inside a bottle. Clouds
form when water vapor forms tiny visible droplets. This results from cooling the vapor. It
helps to provide particles around which the water can liquefy. In this project, we'll use
smoke to help form a cloud.

Cloud in a Bottle Materials

• 1-liter bottle
• warm water
• match

Let's Make Clouds

1. Pour just enough warm water in the bottle to cover the bottom of the container.
2. Light the match and place the match head inside the bottle.
3. Allow the bottle to fill with smoke.
4. Cap the bottle.
5. Squeeze the bottle really hard a few times. When you release the bottle, you
should see the cloud form. It may disappear between 'squeezes'.

The Other Way to Do It

Ok, here's the ideal gas law:

PV = nRT, where P is pressure, V is volume, n is number of moles, R is a constant, and T
is temperature.

If we're not changing the amount of gas (as in a closed container) then if you raise the
pressure, the only way for the temperature of the gas to be unchanged is by decreasing
the container volume proportionally. I wasn't sure I could squeeze the bottle hard enough
to achieve this (or that it would bounce back) and I wanted a really dense cloud for the
photograph so I did the not-as-child-friendly version of this demonstration (still pretty
safe). I poured water from my coffeemaker into the bottom of the bottle. Instant cloud!
(... and a slight melting of the plastic) I couldn't find any matches, so I lit a strip of
cardboard on fire, inserted it into the bottle, and let the bottle get nice and smoky (and
melted more plastic... you can see the deformation in the photo). Dense cloud, no
squeezing required, though of course it still worked.

How Clouds Form

Molecules of water vapor will bounce around like molecules of other gases unless you
give them a reason to stick together. Cooling the vapor slows the molecules down, so
they have less kinetic energy and more time to interact with each other. How do you cool
the vapor? When you squeeze the bottle, you compress the gas and increase its
temperature. Releasing the container lets the gas expand, which causes its temperature to
go down. Real clouds form as warm air rises. As air gets higher, its pressure is reduced.
The air expands, which causes it to cool. As it cools below the dew point, water vapor
forms the droplets we see as clouds. Smoke acts the same in the atmosphere as it does in
the bottle. Other nucleation particles include dust, pollution, dirt, and even bacteria.

EXPERIMENT 4

Scientific Concept behind Burning Money

A combustion reaction occurs between alcohol and oxygen, producing heat and light
(energy) and carbon dioxide and water.

C2H5OH + 4 O2 -> 2 CO2 + 3 H2O + energy

When the bill is soaked an alcohol-water solution, the alcohol has a high vapor pressure
and is mainly on the outside of the material (a bill is more like fabric than paper, which is
nice, if you've ever accidentally washed one). When the bill is lit, the alcohol is what
actually burns. The temperature at which the alcohol burns is not high enough to
evaporate the water, which has a high specific heat, so the bill remains wet and isn't able
to catch fire on its own. After the alcohol has burned, the flame goes out, leaving a
slightly damp dollar bill.
 EXPERIMENT 5

How can you make your fire more festive? Toss on a few colored fire pinecones! Colored
fire pinecones are extremely easy to make. All you need is one common household
chemical.

Colored Fire Pinecone Materials

• dry pinecones
• boric acid (usually sold as a disinfectant in the pharmacy section of stores)
• alcohol (optional)

Alcohol is not necessary for this project, but it is a good accelerant if you are having
trouble getting your pinecones to burn, which is possible if they are still a little green.
Also, alcohol burns with a blue flame, so it will add another color to the fire yet won't
overpower the other flame colors in your pinecone. Methanol is sold as Heet™ fuel
treatment (avoid contact with skin). Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or ethanol (e.g.,
from rum or vodka) work well, too.

Methods of Preparing Colored Fire Pinecones

Method #1: This is the quick-and-easy method of getting pinecones to burn in colors.
Sprinkle a little boric acid powder onto the pinecone. Squirt a small amount of alcohol
onto the pinecone. Light the pinecone.

Method #2: Dissolve the boric acid in a small amount of water or alcohol. Soak the
pinecones in the colorant solution and allow them to dry.

Boric acid is a good chemical for this project because it's easily obtained, safe, and can
give you a full spectrum of flame colors. However, any of the safe colorants for making
colored fire can be used to make colored fire pinecones, so don't be afraid to experiment
with other chemicals. You can prepare colored pinecones in advance to give as gifts or to
burn throughout the season. If you like, you can scent the pinecones by adding a small
amount of cinnamon oil or potpourri fragrance.

EXPERIMENT 6
In the pilot episode of "Breaking Bad", chemistry teacher Walt White performs a
demonstration in which he changes the color of a bunsen burner flame by spraying the
flame with chemicals. You can perform the colored fire demonstration yourself. All you
need are some common chemicals, alcohol, and spray bottles. Here is a list of metal salts
you can use to (safely) color fire. The chemicals have low toxicity and any smoke
produced won't be any better/worse for you than normal wood smoke:

Colored Fire Chemicals

dark red = lithium chloride

red = strontium chloride (found in emergency flares)

orange = calcium chloride (a bleaching powder)

yellow = sodium chloride (table salt) or sodium carbonate

yellowish green = borax (sodium borate, a common insecticide and cleaning agent)

green = copper sulfate (found in some pool and aquarium chemicals)

blue = copper chloride (lab chemical, but other copper compounds found in algicides and
fungicides may work)

violet = 3 parts potassium sulfate, 1 part potassium nitrate (saltpeter)

purple = potassium chloride (sometimes sold as a 'lite' salt)

white = magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts)

Prepare the Flame Colorants

If you were just coloring a campfire or other wood fire, you could simply sprinkle the dry
metal salts onto the fire. Copper chloride is especially nice for this since the sodium that
is naturally present in wood causes this chemical to produce a mix of blue, green, and
yellow flames. However, for the gas flame in a burner, you need the salts dissolved in a
flammable liquid. The obvious choice here is alcohol. Common alcohols found around
the home could include rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) or ethanol (e.g., in vodka). In
some cases, the metal salts will first need to be dissolved in a small volume of water and
then mixed with alcohol so that they can be spray onto a flame. Some salts may not
dissolve, so what you can do is grind them into a fine powder and suspend them in liquid.

EXPERIMENT 7

Violet flames are very easy to make. All you do is sprinkle salt substitute on your fire.
Salt substitute contains potassium chloride and potassium bitartrate. If you are familiar
with the emission spectra from flame tests, you'll recognize that potassium salts burn
violet or purple. To me, the color seems more of a blue-violet, but you can get a more
reddish purple if you mix a little strontium from the red fire tutorial in with the salt
substitute.

Keep in mind, violet is not one of the colors your eyes see really well. The subtle glow of
these flames can be completely overwhelmed by the colors from trace impurities. This
means two things:

1. Use as pure a fuel as you can. I used Heet™ fuel treatment, which is methanol. If
you sprinkle the salt substitute on your wood-burning campfire, the flames will
change color but the color won't necessarily be violet.
 2. Use salt substitute and not lite salt. Lite salt is a mixture of normal table salt
(sodium chloride) with potassium salts. The yellow from the sodium will
overpower the violet from the potassium.

EXPERIMENT 8

Magic Trick Materials

This science magic trick or demonstration can be performed using many different liquids,
such as water and wine, water and oil, or water and whiskey. All you need are two liquids
that have different densities. If the liquids don't mix (such as water and oil), you will get a
clearly-defined separation. Expect some mixing of water with rubbing alcohol or an
alcoholic beverage. You can tint a water or alcohol-based liquid with food coloring.

• two small identical glasses, such as shot glasses

• water
• oil or wine or whiskey or rubbing alcohol
• a thin waterproof card, such as a driver's license

Perform the Liquid Magic Trick

1. Fill one glass completely full with water.

2. Fill the other glass completely full with the other liquid you selected.
3. Place the card over the water glass. While holding the card onto the glass, flip the
water glass over and set it and the card on top of the second glass.
4. Line the glasses up so that they are even and move the card so that there is just a
tiny bit of open space at the edge of the glasses.
5. Over the next few minutes (about 10 minutes for shot glasses), the liquids will
exchange places. The alcohol or oil will rise to the top while the water sinks and
fills the bottom glass.

How the Liquid Magic Trick Works

Well, obviously not by magic! This is simple science. The two liquids have different
densities from each other. Basically, the lighter liquid will float while the heavier liquid
will sink. You would see the same result if you had removed the card entirely, except this
way is prettier and looks more magical.

EXPERIMENT 9

Materials

• tap water
• two 1-liter Erlenmeyer flasks, with stoppers
• 7.5 g glucose (2.5 g for one flask; 5 g for the other flask)
 • 7.5 g sodium hydroxide NaOH (2.5 g for one flask; 5 g for the other flask)
• 0.1% solution of methylene blue (1 ml for each flask)

How to Do the Blue Bottle Chemistry Demonstration - Procedure

Procedure

1. Half-fill two one-liter Erlenmeyer flasks with tap water.

2. Dissolve 2.5 g of glucose in one of the flask (flask A) and 5 g of glucose in the
other flask (flask B).
3. Dissolve 2.5 g of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in flask A and 5 g of NaOH in flask
B.
4. Add ~1 ml of 0.1% methylene blue to each flask.
5. Stopper the flasks and shake them to dissolve the dye. The resulting solution will
be blue.
6. Set the flasks aside (this is a good time to explain the chemistry of the
demonstration). The liquid will gradually become colorless as glucose is oxidized
by the dissolved dioxygen. The effect of concentration on reaction rate should be
obvious. The flask with twice the concentration uses the dissolved oxygen in
about half the time as the other solution. A thin blue boundary can be expected to
remain at the solution-air interface, since oxygen remains available via diffusion.
7. The blue color of the solutions can be restored by swirling or shaking the contents
of the flask.
8. The reaction can be repeated several times.

EXPERIMENT 10

How to Do the Traveling Flame Trick

1. Light a candle. Have a second source of flame ready, such as another candle, a
lighter, or a match.
2. Blow out the candle and immediately place the other flame into the smoke.
3. The flame will travel down the smoke and will relight your candle.

EXPERIMENT 11

The baking soda volcano is the kitchen equivalent of a volcano, not a real one. It's cool
all the same! The baking soda volcano is also more or less non-toxic, which adds to its
appeal.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 30 minutes

Here's How:

1. First make the 'cone' of the baking soda volcano. Mix 6 cups flour, 2 cups salt, 4
tablespoons cooking oil, and 2 cups of water. The resulting mixture should be
smooth and firm (more water may be added if needed).
 2. Stand the soda bottle in the baking pan and mold the dough around it into a
volcano shape. Don't cover the hole or drop dough into it.
3. Fill the bottle most of the way full with warm water and a bit of red food color
(can be done before sculpting if you don't take so long that the water gets cold).
4. Add 6 drops of detergent to the bottle contents.
5. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to the liquid.
6. Slowly pour vinegar into the bottle. Watch out - eruption time!
7. Chemistry is Cool :-)

Tips:

1. The cool red lava is the result of a chemical reaction between the baking soda and
vinegar.
2. In this reaction, carbon dioxide gas is produced, which is also present in real
volcanos.
3. As the carbon dioxide gas is produced, pressure builds up inside the plastic bottle,
until the gas bubbles (thanks to the detergent) out of the 'volcano'.
4. Adding a bit of food coloring will result in red-orange lava! Orange seems to
work the best. Add some red, yellow, and even purple, for a bright display.
5. If you need more detailed instructions or information about the chemical reactions
involved in the volcano, I also have a step-by-step tutorial and a video tutorial.

What You Need:

• 6 cups flour
• 2 cups salt
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil
• warm water
• plastic soda bottle
• dishwashing detergent
• food coloring
• vinegar
• baking dish or other pan
• 2 T baking soda

EXPERIMENT 12

Salt and vinegar crystals are easy-to-grow non-toxic crystals that you can grow in a
rainbow of colors. This crystal growing project is especially good for kids or beginners
looking for quick and easy crystals.

Salt & Vinegar Crystal Materials

• 1 cup hot water (H2O)

• 1/4 cup salt (sodium chloride)
• 2 teaspoons vinegar (dilute acetic acid)
• food coloring (optional)
 • piece of sponge
• shallow dish

Salt & Vinegar Crystal Instructions

1. Stir together the water, salt, and vinegar. Boiling water works best, but very hot
water is okay.
2. Place the piece of sponge on the shallow dish. Pour the mixture over the sponge
so that it soaks up the liquid and just covers the bottom of the dish.
3. If you want colored crystals, you can dot the sponge with food coloring.
4. Save the rest of the crystal growing solution.
5. Set the dish in a sunny window or other warm area with good air circulation. You
will see crystal growth overnight or within a day. Add more crystal growing
solution to replace the liquid that evaporates.
6. Continue growing your crystals as long as you like. The project is non-toxic so
when you are done you can either save your crystals or else throw them away.
You can dump leftover crystal solution down the drain and wash the dish as usual.

How the Crystals Grow

Salt dissolves better in hot water than cold water, so as the solution cools the salt wants to
come out of solution and crystallize. When you pour the solution over the sponge, this
causes the liquid to evaporate. This further concentrates the salt so that it will crystallize.
The salt crystals will start to form on undissolved salt or on the sponge. Once the crystals
start forming, they grow fairly rapidly.

EXPERIMENT 13

Make delicate, colorful crystals! This is a great classic crystal-growing project. You use
charcoal briquettes (or other porous materials), ammonia, salt, bluing, and food coloring
to grow a sort of crystal garden. The components of the garden are toxic, so adult
supervision is recommended. Be sure to keep your growing garden away from young
children and pets!
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 2 days to 2 weeks

Here's How:

1. Place chunks of your substrate (i.e., charcoal briquette, sponge, cork, brick,
porous rock) in an even layer in the non-metal pan. You want pieces that are
roughly 1-inch in diameter, so you may need to (carefully) use a hammer to break
the material up.
2. Sprinkle water, preferably distilled, onto the substrate until is has been thoroughly
dampened. Pour off any excess water.
3. In an empty jar, mix 3 tablespoons (45 ml) uniodized salt, 3 tablespoons (45 ml)
ammonia, and 6 tablespoons (90 ml) bluing. Stir until the salt is dissolved.
4. Pour the mixture over the prepared substrate.
 5. Add and swirl a bit of water around in the empty jar to pick up the remaining
chemicals and pour this liquid onto the substrate, too.
6. Add a drop of food coloring here and there across the surface of the 'garden'.
Areas with no food coloring will be white.
7. Sprinkle more salt (about 2 T or about 30 ml) across the surface of the 'garden'.
8. Set the 'garden' in an area where it will not be disturbed.
9. On days 2 and 3, pour a mixture of ammonia, water, and bluing (2 tablespoons or
30 ml each) in the bottom of the pan, being careful not to disturb the delicate
growing crystals.
10. Keep the pan in an undisturbed place, but check on it periodically to watch your
very cool garden grow!

Tips:

1. If you can't find bluing at a store near you, it is available online:

http://www.mrsstewart.com/ (Mrs. Stewart's Bluing).
2. Crystals form on the porous materials and grow by drawing up the solution using
capillary action. Water evaporates on the surface, depositing solids/forming
crystals, and pulling more solution up from the base of the pie plate.

What You Need:

• Charcoal Briquettes (or pieces of sponge or brick or porous rock)

• Distilled Water
• Uniodized Salt
• Ammonia
• Bluing
• Food Coloring
• Non-Metal Pie Plate (glass is great)
• Measuring Spoons
• Empty Jar

EXPERIMENT 14

It's very easy to make a glow in the dark crystal geode. The 'rock' is a natural mineral
(eggshell). You can use one of several common household chemicals to grow the
crystals. The glow comes from paint, which you can get from a craft store.

Glow in the Dark Geode Materials

• eggs
• glow in the dark paint (I used GlowAway™ washable glowing paint)
• very hot water (I used my coffee maker)
• borax, alum, epsom salts, sugar, salt, or use another crystal recipe
• food coloring (optional -- I used neon green coloring)
Prepare the Glowing 'Geode'

1. There are two ways to crack your eggs. You can carefully crack the top of the egg
by tapping it on a countertop. This will give you a deep geode with a smaller
opening. Alternatively, you can crack the equator of the egg or carefully cut it
with a knife. This will give you a geode you can open and put back together.
2. Dump the egg or make scrambled eggs or whatever.
3. Rinse out the inside of the eggshell with water. Peel away the interior membrane
so you are left with only the shell.
4. Allow the egg to air dry or carefully blot it dry with a paper towel or napkin.
5. Use a paintbrush, swab, or your fingers to coat the inside of the eggshell with
glowing paint.
6. Set the painted egg aside while you mix the crystal-growing solution.

Make the Crystal Solution

1. Pour hot water into a cup.

2. Stir borax or other crystal salt into the water until it stops dissolving and you see
some solid at the bottom of the cup.
3. Add food coloring, if desired. Food coloring does not get incorporated into all
crystals (e.g., borax crystals will be clear), but it will stain the egg shell behind the
crystals, giving the geode some color.

Grow the Crystals

1. Support the shell so that it won't tip over. I made a little nest for mine in a
crumpled napkin that I set inside a cereal bowl.
2. Pour the crystal solution into the shell so that it is as full as possible. Don't pour
the undissolved solid into the eggshell, just the saturated liquid.
3. Set the shell somewhere where it won't get knocked over. Allow crystals to grow
for several hours (overnight is shown) or as long as you like.
4. When you are satisfied with the crystal growth, pour out the solution and allow
the geode to dry.
5. Phosphorescent paint is activated by exposing it to bright light. Black light
(ultraviolet) produces a very bright glow, also. The duration of the glow depends
on the paint you use. My geode glows for about a minute before it needs to be
recharged. Some paints will produce geodes that glow for a few seconds. Other
paints may glow for many minutes.
6. Store your geode in a dry location, protected from dust.

EXPERIMENT 15

It's easy to grow your own sugar crystals! Sugar crystals are also known as rock candy
since the crystallized sucrose (table sugar) resembles rock crystals and because you can
eat your finished product. You can grow beautiful clear sugar crystals with sugar and
water or you can add food coloring to get colored crystals. It's simple, safe, and fun.
Boiling water is required to dissolve the sugar, so adult supervision is recommended for
this project.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: a few days to a week

Here's How:

1. Gather your materials.

2. You may wish to grow a seed crystal, a small crystal to weight your string and
provide a surface for larger crystals to grow onto. A seed crystal is not necessary
as long as you are using a rough string or yarn.
3. Tie the string to a pencil or butter knife. If you have made a seed crystal, tie it to
the bottom of the string. Set the pencil or knife across the top of the glass jar and
make sure that the string will hang into the jar without touching its sides or
bottom. However, you want the string to hang nearly to the bottom. Adjust the
length of the string, if necessary.
4. Boil the water. If you boil your water in the microwave, be very careful removing
it to avoid getting splashed!
5. Stir in the sugar, a teaspoonful at a time. Keep adding sugar until it starts to
accumulate at the bottom of the container and won't dissolve even with more
stirring. This means your sugar solution is saturated. If you don't use a saturated
solution, then your crystals won't grow quickly. On the other hand, if you add too
much sugar, new crystals will grow on the undissolved sugar and not on your
string.
6. If you want colored crystals, stir in a few drops of food coloring.
7. Pour your solution into the clear glass jar. If you have undissolved sugar at the
bottom of your container, avoid getting it in the jar.
8. Place the pencil over the jar and allow the string to dangle into the liquid.
9. Set the jar somewhere where it can remain undisturbed. If you like, you can set a
coffee filter or paper towel over the jar to prevent dust from falling into the jar.
10. Check on your crystals after a day. You should be able to see the beginnings of
crystal growth on the string or seed crytal.
11. Let the crystals grow until they have reached the desired size or have stopped
growing. At this point, you can pull out the string and allow the crystal to dry.
You can eat them or keep them. Have fun!
12. If you are having trouble growing sugar crystals, you may want to try some
special techniques. A video tutorial showing how to make rock candy is available,
too.

Tips:

1. Crystals will form on a cotton or wool string or yarn, but not on a nylon line. If
you use a nylon line, tie a seed crystal to it to stimulate crystal growth.
2. If you are making the crystals to eat, please don't use a fishing weight to hold your
string down. The lead from the weight will end up in the water -- it's toxic. Paper
clips are a better choice, but still not great.
What You Need:

• 1 cup water
• 3 cups table sugar (sucrose)
• clean glass jar
• pencil or butter knife
• string
• pan or bowl for boiling water and making solution
• spoon or stirring rod

EXPERIMENT 16

You can find epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) in the laundry and pharmacy sections of
most stores. Epsom salt crystals are safe to handle, easy to grow, and form quickly. You
can grow clear crystals or add food coloring if you prefer. Here's what you need to know
to make your own crystals.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: A Few Days

Here's How:

1. Boil the water in a microwave or on the stove.

2. Remove the water from heat and add the epsom salts. Stir the mixture until the
salt is fully dissolved. If desired, add food coloring.
3. Pour the mixture over a piece of sponge (optional) or into a shallow container.
You need just enough liquid to cover the bottom of the container.
4. Place the container in a warm or sunny location. Crystals will form as the water
evaporates.

Tips:

1. The sponge provides extra surface area to allow the crystals to form more quickly
and helps make them a bit easier to view and handle.
2. Compare the appearance of the epsom salts before stirring them into the water
with the appearance of the crystals that are produced.

What You Need:

• 1/4 cup epsom salts (magnesium sufate)

• 1/2 cup water
• shallow bowl or dish
• sponge (optional)
• food coloring (optional)
 EXPERIMENT 17

Copper sulfate crystals are among the easiest and most beautiful crystals that you can
grow. The brilliant blue crystals can be grown relatively quickly and can become quite
large. Here's how you can grow copper sulfate crystals yourself.

Copper Sulfate Crystal Materials

• copper sulfate (compare prices)

• water
• jar

Make a Saturated Copper Sulfate Solution

Stir copper sulfate into very hot water until no more will dissolve. You can just pour the
solution into a jar and wait a few days for crystals to grow, but if you grow a seed crystal,
you can get much larger and better-shaped crystals.

Grow a Seed Crystal

Pour a little of the saturated copper sulfate solution into a saucer or shallow dish. Allow it
to sit in an undisturbed location for several hours or overnight. Select the best crystal as
your 'seed' for growing a large crystal. Scrape the crystal off of the container and tie it to
a length of nylon fishing line.

Growing a Large Crystal

1. Suspend the seed crystal in a clean jar that you have filled with the solution you
made earlier. Don't allow any undissolved copper sulfate to spill into the jar. Don't
let the seed crystal touch the sides or bottom of the jar.
2. Place the jar in a location where it won't be disturbed. You can set a coffee filter
or paper towel over the top of the container, but allow air circulation so that the
liquid can evaporate.
3. Check the growth of your crystal each day. If you see crystals starting to grow on
the bottom, sides, or top of the container then remove the seed crystal and suspend
it in a clean jar. Pour the solution into this jar. You don't want 'extra' crystals
growing because they will compete with your crystal and will slow its growth.
4. When you are pleased with your crystal, you can remove it from the solution and
allow it to dry.

Tips & Safety

• Even a small increase in the temperature of the water will greatly affect the
amount of copper sulfate (CuS04 . 5H20) that will dissolve.
 • Copper sulfate is harmful if swallowed and can irritate skin and mucous
membranes. In case of contact, rinse skin with water. If swallowed, give water
and call a physician.
• Copper sulfate pentahydrate crystals contain water, so if you want to store your
finished crystal, keep it in a sealed container. Otherwise water will evaporate from
the crystals, leaving them dull and powdery. The gray or greenish powder is the
anhydrous form of copper sulfate.
• Copper sulfate is used in copper plating, blood tests for anemia, in algicides and
fungicides, in textile manufacturing, and as a dessicant.

EXPERIMENT 18

One of the most spectacular chemistry demonstrations is also one of the simplest. It's the
dehydration of sugar (sucrose) with sulfuric acid. Basically, all you do to perform this
demonstration is put ordinary table sugar in a glass beaker and stir in some concentrated
sulfuric acid (you can dampen the sugar with a small volume of water before adding the
sulfuric acid). The sulfuric acid removes water from the sugar in a highly exothermic
reaction, releasing heat, steam, and sulfur oxide fumes. Aside from the sulfurous odor,
the reaction smells a lot like caramel. The white sugar turns into a black carbonized tube
that pushes itself out of the beaker. Here's a nice youtube video for you, if you'd like to
see what to expect.

What Happens
Sugar is a carbohydrate, so when you remove the water from the molecule, you're
basically left with elemental carbon. The dehydration reaction is a type of elimination
reaction.

C12H22O11 (sugar) + H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) → 12 C (carbon) + 11 H2O (water) + mixture

water and acid

Although the sugar is dehydrated, the water isn't 'lost' in the reaction. Some of it remains
as a liquid in the acid. Since the reaction is exothermic, much of the water is boiled off as
steam.

Safety Precautions
If you do this demonstration, use proper safety precautions. Whenever you deal with
concentrated sulfuric acid, you should wear gloves, eye protection, and a lab coat.
Consider the beaker a loss, since scraping burnt sugar and carbon off of it isn't an easy
task. It's preferable to perform the demonstration inside of a fume hood.

EXPERIMENT 19

Are you looking for a way to play with your food and play with fire at the same time?
This project is the perfect solution, plus it's very, very easy!
Citrus Fire Materials

• citrus fruit (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, tangerine... you get the idea)
• flame, as from a candle

Make Citrus Fire!

1. Peel off a strip of citrus fruit.

2. Snap the peel between your fingers, peel side toward the flame. You want to
squirt a tiny amount of oil from the peel or rind toward the flame. I've uploaded a
YouTube video so you can see what to expect.

How Citrus Fire Works

The oil from citrus fruits is volatile and flammable. When you squeeze the oil out of the
fruit peel it vaporizes enough that you can flash your flame. It is primarily the D-
limonene in the citrus oil that vaporizes and ignites. The flash point of limonene is 50°C.
Limonene is used as an orange flavoring, a cleaner, and may have use as a biofuel.

EXPERIMENT 20

It's easy to make your own colored flowers, especially carnations and daisies, but there
are a couple of tricks that help ensure great results. Here's how you do it.

Colored Flower Materials

• fresh flowers, preferably white - don't use wilted flowers since they might not be
able to absorb water well. Good choices include daisies and carnations.
• food coloring
• warm water

Make Colored Flowers

• Trim the stems of your flowers so they aren't excessively long.

• Make a slanted cut at the base of the stem under water. The cut is slanted so that
the stem won't sit flat on the bottom of the container. A flat cut can prevent the
flower from taking in water. Make the cut underwater to prevent air bubbles from
forming in the tiny tubes at base of the stem, which would prevent water/color
from being drawn up.
• Add food coloring to a glass. You're looking at about 20-30 drops of food
coloring per half cup of warm water. Warm water will be taken more readily than
cold water.
• Set the damp stem of the flower in the colored water. The petals should become
colored after a few hours. It may take as long as 24 hours, however, depending on
the flower.
 • You can set the colored flowers in plain water or flower preservative, but they
will continue to drink water, changing the pattern of the color over time.

Getting Fancy

You can slit the stem up the middle and put each side in a different color to get bi-colored
flowers. What do you think you will get if you put half of the stem in blue dye and half in
yellow dye? What do you think will happen if you take a colored flower and put its stem
in dye of a different color?

How It Works

A few different processes are involved in plant 'drinking' or transpiration. As water

evaporates from flowers and leaves, the attractive force between water molecules called
cohesion pulls more water along. Water is pulled up through tiny tubes (xylem) that run
up a plant's stem. Although gravity might want to pull the water back down toward the
ground, water sticks to itself and these tubes. This capillary action keeps water in the
xylem in much the same way as water stays in a straw when you suck water through it,
except evaporation and biochemical reactions provide the initial upward pull.

EXPERIMENT 21

Sodium Acetate or Hot Ice Materials

• 1 liter clear vinegar (weak acetic acid)

• 4 tablespoons baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

Prepare the Sodium Acetate or Hot Ice

1. In a saucepan or large beaker, add baking soda to the vinegar, a little at a time and
stirring between additions. The baking soda and vinegar react to form sodium
acetate and carbon dioxide gas. If you don't add the baking soda slowly, you'll
essentially get a baking soda and vinegar volcano, which would overflow your
container. You've made the sodium acetate, but it is too dilute to be very useful,
so you need to remove most of the water.

Here is the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar to produce the sodium
acetate:

Na+[HCO3]– + CH3–COOH → CH3–COO– Na+ + H2O + CO2

2. Boil the solution to concentrate the sodium acetate. You could just remove the
solution from heat once you have 100-150 ml of solution remaining, but the
easiest way to get good results is to simply boil the solution until a crystal skin or
film starts to form on the surface. This took me about an hour on the stove over
 medium heat. If you use lower heat you are less likely to get yellow or brown
liguid, but it will take longer. If discoloration occurs, it's okay.
3. Once you remove the sodium acetate solution from heat, immediately cover it to
prevent any further evaporation. I poured my solution into a separate container
and covered it with plastic wrap. You should not have any crystals in your
solution. If you do have crystals, stir a very small amount of water or vinegar into
the solution, just sufficient to dissolve the crystals.
4. Place the covered container of sodium acetate solution in the refrigerator to chill.

Activities Involving Hot Ice

The sodium acetate in the solution in the refrigerator is an example of a supercooled

liquid. That is, the sodium acetate exists in liquid form below its usual melting point. You
can initiate crystallization by adding a small crystal of sodium acetate or possibly even by
touching the surface of the sodium acetate solution with a spoon or finger. The
crystallization is an example of an exothermic process. Heat is released as the 'ice' forms.
To demonstrate supercooling, crystallization, and heat release you could:

• Drop a crystal into the container of cooled sodium acetate solution. The sodium
acetate will crystallize within seconds, working outward from where you added
the crystal. The crystal acts as a nucleation site or seed for rapid crystal growth.
Although the solution just came out of the refrigerator, if you touch the container
you will find it is now warm or hot.
• Pour the solution onto a shallow dish. If the hot ice does not spontaneously begin
crystallization, you can touch it with a crystal of sodium acetate (you can usually
scrape a small amount of sodium acetate from the side of the container you used
earlier). The crystallization will progress from the dish up toward where you are
pouring the liquid. You can construct towers of hot ice. The towers will be warm
to the touch.
• You can re-melt sodium acetate and re-use it for demonstrations.

Hot Ice Safety

As you would expect, sodium acetate is a safe chemical for use in demonstrations. It is
used as a food additive to enhance flavor and is the active chemical in many hot packs.
The heat generated by the crystallization of a refrigerated sodium acetate solution should
not present a burn hazard.

Hot Ice Help

Answers to common questions about hot ice are available that should help solve any
problems you may encounter with this project. There is also a video tutorial showing how
to make hot ice.
 EXPERIMENT 21

Make a density column with many liquid layers using common household liquids. This is
an easy, fun and colorful science project that illustrates the concept of density.

Density Column Materials

You can use some or all of these liquids, depending on how many layers you want and
which materials you have handy. These liquids are listed from most-dense to least-dense,
so this is the order in which you pour them into the column.

1. honey
2. corn syrup or pancake syrup
3. liquid dishwashing soap
4. water (can be colored with food coloring)
5. vegetable oil
6. rubbing alcohol (can be colored with food coloring)
7. lamp oil

Make the Density Column

Pour your heaviest liquid into the center of whatever container you are using to make
your column. If you can avoid it, don't let the first liquid run down the side of the the
container because the first liquid is thick enough it will probably stick to the side so your
column won't end up as pretty. Carefully pour the next liquid you are using down the side
of the container. Another way to add the liquid is to pour it over the back of a spoon.
Continue adding liquids until you have completed your density column. At this point, you
can use the column as a decoration. Try to avoid bumping the container or mixing its
contents.

The hardest liquids to deal with are the water, vegetable oil, and rubbing alcohol. Make
sure that there is an even layer of oil before you add the alcohol because if there is a
break in that surface or if you pour the alcohol so that it dips below the oil layer into the
water then the two liquids will mix. If you take your time, this problem can be avoided.

How the Density Column Works

You made your column by pouring the heaviest liquid into the glass first, followed by the
next-heaviest liquid, etc. The heaviest liquid has the most mass per unit volume or the
highest density. Some of the liquids don't mix because they repel each other (oil and
water). Other liquids resist mixing because they are thick or viscous. Eventually some of
the liquids of your column will mix together.
 EXPERIMENT 22

Materials for the Pepper & Water Trick

You only need a few common kitchen ingredients to perform this science magic trick.

• black pepper
• water
• dishwashing liquid
• plate or bowl

Performing the Pepper & Water Trick

1. Pour water into a plate or bowl.

2. Shake some pepper onto the water.
3. If you dip your finger into the pepper and water, nothing much happens.
4. If you put a drop of dishwashing liquid on your finger and then dip it into the
pepper and water the pepper will rush to the outer edges of the dish. If you are
doing this as a 'trick' then you might have one finger that is clean and another
finger that you dipped in detergent before performing the trick.

How the Pepper & Water Trick Works

When you add detergent to water the surface tension of the water is lowered. Water
normally bulges up a bit, like what you see when you look at a water drop. When the
surface tension is lowered, the water wants to spread out. As the water flattens on the
dish, the pepper that is floating on top of the water is carried to the outer edge of the plate
as if by magic.