Baking Soda and Vinegar

So this has been done a lot.  It is one of the easiest experiments you can do with your kids and is safe to do with younger children.  I decided to do this the other night with my daughter because well I really needed to clean my house and had to keep her busy for a while and this worked (um not the best reason to do a project but the truth none the less). 

So here is the science explanation of what actually happens in this experiment the acetic acid (that's what makes vinegar sour) reacts with sodium bicarbonate (a compound that's in baking soda) to form carbonic acid. It's really a double replacement reaction. Carbonic acid is unstable, and it immediately falls apart into carbon dioxide and water (it's a decomposition reaction). The bubbles you see from the reaction come from the carbon dioxide escaping the solution that is left. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, so, it flows almost like water when it overflows the container. It is a gas that you exhale (though in small amounts), because it is a product of the reactions that keep your body going.  What's left is a dilute solution of sodium acetate in water.

And here is the fun stuff.  When you drop the colored vinegar (it really does not have to be colored but what is the fun in that) it makes really cool bubbles.  My daughter had a blast doing this she started with just dropping a few drops then by the end she was filling two droppers with vinegar and shooting them in the baking soda as quick as she could.  She played with this for over an hour (toys I buy her at the store don’t get played with that long).  And I got some much needed cleaning done in that time.  Once she said she was done I just let her pour all the left over vinegar in the baking soda and see how it all bubbled, she thought that was super COOL, well actually I did too! 

Supplies

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Eye droppers (we found them at Walgreens)

Baking Dish (we used a 9x13)

Food Color (optional but really cool)

Directions

 Fill a baking dish with baking soda so that the bottom is fully covered.  

 Pour your vinegar in to small dishes and add food coloring.

 Now using your eye droppers drop a couple drops of your vinegar into the baking soda and see what happens… COOL RIGHT!  

This is what ours looked like when she said she was done.

 Now just play and have fun, let the kids go to town playing with this.

Dumping all left over vinegar into dish

 When the kids are done just wash it all down the sink or dump all your vinegar into your baking soda dish then wash it down the sink your choice.

Question of the Day:  Do you like projects that keep your kids busy so you can get stuff done around the house?