Today we were learning about the planet, Venus. A fun fact about Venus is that Venus has more volcanoes than any other planet in our solar system. Obviously, this meant we HAD to do a volcano science experiment. The lemon volcano experiment is perfect because you can find most of the supplies in your kitchen, plus it does not require much preparation and is not a huge mess but is colorful and bubbly!
You will need:
Lemons
Baking Soda- 1 TBSP per lemon half
Food color
Knife
Juicer
Pan or Tray (to contain the mess from the eruption)
First, you take the lemons and cut them into halves. You may also need to cut a little bit of the bottom off so that the lemons can stand up. Next, you will need to squeeze the lemon juice out. We used a handheld juicer, but you can also use a spoon to scoop out the inner portions and juices from the lemons.
You will then add a few drops of different colors of food coloring into the lemon halves. (The more colors you add, the more excellent effect you get when the volcanoes erupt). Add a tablespoonful of baking soda to each of the lemons. Some of the lemons may start fizzing right away, but the eruption will begin when you re-add the lemon juice!
The kids wanted to know what would happen if we added more baking soda to the mixture. They were a little disappointed that it didn’t really do anything, especially since it seemed apparent that the baking soda seemed to cause the eruption. They got excited when we added more lemon juice; it started bubbling again!
A simple summary of the science in the experiment is that since the lemon is a citrus fruit (meaning it has lots of citric acids inside). Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (which is a base). And… When you mix an acid with a base, you get a chemical reaction, the formation of carbon dioxide gas. The gas is trying to escape from the liquid and foams ups. The soap traps more gas which causes more bubbles. Even though the kids didn’t really absorb any of the actual science, it was a fun and easy way to introduce some of these chemistry concepts.
Thanks for being part of our cRaZy! Until next time...
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