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You can say " Ok Google" on your Android phone or tablet to start a voice search or have Google do something for you. ... When you say " Ok Google," it tells the Google app that you're ready to start using your voice. ...

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This website is good for my research because these safe chemical reactions

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Chem4Kids.com! This tutorial introduces basics of chemical reactions. Other sections include matter, elements, the periodic table, and biochemistry.

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Easy Science Experiments You Can Do at Home or at School

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Easy Science Experiments You Can Do at Home or at School

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These chemical reactions are cool and they are very safe.

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WHY NOT TRY A FUN SCIENCE EXPERIMENT RIGHT NOW?

Here's list of great science experiments with instructions that you can do right at home or at school. In order for your science experiment to be safe and successful, be sure to:

Get your parent's or teacher's permission, and their help

Follow the directions as written

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Great collection of Science Experiments for home and school.

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Find lots of easy Science Experiments perfect for trying out home or at school!

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50 Easy Science Experiments for Kids Using Household Stuff | MommyPoppins - Things to do in New York City with Kids

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50 Easy Science Experiments for Kids Using Household Stuff | MommyPoppins - Things to do in New York City with Kids

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This website is good for my research because these safe chemical reactions.

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Searching for kid-friendly science experiments to do at home? Whether you're prepping for a fifth-grade science fair or want something fun to do with preschoolers, these cool science experiments for kids are super easy and a lot of fun for kids of all ages. Parents may end up learning a new thing or two, too!

Children are born scientists. They're always experimenting with something, whether they're throwing a plate of spaghetti on the wall, blowing bubbles in the bathwater, or stacking blocks into an intricate tower only to destroy it in one big swipe. Happily, you can do some pretty mind-blowing, hands-on science experiments at home using stuff you probably have lying around the house.

Want even more science experiments for kids like this? Check out our list of 25 Preschool Science Experiments, and more, in our Guide to Science Experiments for Kids, which is packed with fun STEM activities.

Popular KiwiCo, Green Kid Crafts, and Mel Chemistry subscription boxes send age-appropriate projects every month, so you never run out of science experiments you can do at home.

Coolest Science Experiments for Kids at Home

1. Make rock candy

Learn about the crystallization process by learning how to make rock candy in a glass.

2. Make a lava lamp

Make a lava lamp by pouring vegetable oil into water and then adding an Alka-Seltzer tablet to make the blob of oil move.

3. Make homemade slime

Borax plus glue equals homemade slime.

4. Frozen bubbles

Blow bubbles outside when temperatures dip to the single digits and watch them freeze.

5. Invisible Ink

Use lemon juice to make invisible ink that can only be seen when held up to a heat source.

6. Walking rainbows

Use food coloring and water to make a walking rainbow and explore how combining primary colors makes secondary colors.

7. Paper towel art/magic

This paper towel art magic trick, which also involves science for an added bonus. Permanent and washable markers make art and teach about solubility at the same time.
RELATED: 1000s of Boredom Busters for Kids
8. Pepper and soap experiment

Dish soap, pepper, a toothpick, and a little bit of water are all kids need to feel like science wizards. Watch a little drop of soap chase pepper away in the pepper and soap experiment.

9. Balloon carbon dioxide experiment

Create carbon dioxide and hang on while you use it to fill up a balloon.

10. Skittles science experiment

Learn about a phenomenon called water stratification, using Skittles as the subject matter. Perfect for after Halloween!

Fun Science Experiments Using Household Staples

11. Marshmallow catapult

Build a marshmallow catapult out of a plastic spoon, rubber bands, and Popsicle sticks.

12. Make a parachute for toys

Use a plastic bag and cup to build a parachute for a light toy.

13. Dye flowers with food coloring

Place white flowers in colored water and watch how they soak up the hues.

RELATED: 50 Magna-Tiles Games and Building Ideas for Kids

14. Baking soda lemon juice experiment

Create a colorful and fizzy reaction by adding a drop of food coloring and a little baking soda to a sliced lemon.

15. Make homemade butter

Make your own butter by shaking a jar of heavy cream.

16. Homemade ice cream in a bag

Make homemade ice cream in a bag: shake salt, ice, cream, and sugar vigorously until the consistency is right, then enjoy.

17. Do oil and water mix?

Plop oil into water to see that they really don't mix; try it with a variety of liquids to make a rainbow of stripes.

RELATED: 25 Exercise Games to Do with Kids Indoors

18. Egg in a bottle experiment

Force an egg to fit into a bottle by creating a suction using heat.

19. Floating eggs

Change how an egg floats or sinks in a glass by adding salt to the water.

20. Turn milk into plastic

Turn milk into a material that acts like plastic using white vinegar.

21. Thriving yeast experiment

Mix a batch of bread dough and separate it into several different bowls; place them in different places (outside, inside, in the dark, in the light) to see which environment yeast thrives in.

22. How does mold grow?

Grow mold on bread by putting slices in different environments (in a bag in the dark, in a bag in the sunlight, out in the open, in the refrigerator); see which one gets moldy first.

23. The taste-smell connection

Have your kids close their eyes and hold their noses and see if they can still identify foods by taste.

24. Make easy homemade cheese
RELATED: 75 Indoor Activities for Kids for Rainy Days
Dabble in some kitchen science while making this yummy ricotta cheese.

25. Make an eggshell disappear

Your egg will be so embarrassed when you leave it naked! Dissolve the shell right off an egg by simply placing it in a cup of vinegar.

26. Make a taste bud map

Map taste buds by dipping Q-tips into different flavors and placing them on different areas of your tongue.

27. Find the fatty food with a simple trick

Explore the fat content of different foods by wiping them on a brown paper bag; fatty foods leave behind a greasy spot, while fruits and vegetables leave no trace at all.

Slime, Putty, and Oobleck Science Experiments for Kids

28. Silly putty recipe

You will be squeaky clean after creating this satisfying non-sticky putty by simply combining cornstarch and dish soap.

29. Easy Oobleck recipe

Whip up some Oobleck, a fascinating non-Newtonian fluid that can act like a solid or a liquid depending on certain conditions.

30. Ivory soap in microwave

Microwave Ivory soap (or any soap that floats) to create a bizarre puffy soufflé.

Outdoor and Nature Science Experiments

31. Grow beans

Grow a bean in a clear cup to watch the roots grow down and the stem grow up.

32. Make a duck call/whistle from a straw

Craft a duck call by cutting the ends of a straw into a point, then blow.

33. Musical bottles

Set up a row of bottles with varying amounts of liquid and then blow across the openings to hear the different tones.

34. How to make a sundial

Make a sundial by placing a stick in a vertical position and a circle of rocks around it marking each hour.

35. Cut ice cubes like magic

Cut ice in half using a fishing wire-the pressure melts the ice faster than the air.

36. Make a rainbow

Make a rainbow by holding a glass of water up to the sunlight with a sheet of paper behind it to catch the colors.

37. Tornado in a bottle

Create a tornado in a bottle by taping two plastic bottles together neck to neck-one filled, the other empty-and swirling it quickly.

38. How to make a solar oven

S'more science, please! Harness the power of the sun and turn a pizza box into a solar oven and roast some delicious treats for the whole family.

Science Experiments for Kids that Fizz, Bubble, and Foam

39. Baking soda volcano science project

Mix baking soda, vinegar, and glitter for a sparkly volcano.

40. Diet Coke and Mentos

Mix Diet Coke and Mentos and stand back to watch the explosion. (Really! Stand back.)

41. Pop Rocks and soda

Drop Pop Rocks into a bottle of soda and then place a balloon onto the opening to watch it inflate.

42. What will shine a penny?

Discover how to keep your pennies shiny by experimenting with different cleaning solutions.

43. How to make elephant toothpaste

Make " elephant toothpaste" (a.k.a. an impressive large foam) out of soap, yeast, and hydrogen peroxide. For the holidays, turn it into " reindeer toothpaste."

44. Glitter germ experiment

This glitter does more than shine, it sparks a scientific experiment to see how far germs can spread.

45. Dancing popcorn experiment

Baking soda and vinegar react to make popcorn kernels hop around a jar of water.

46. Fizzy chalk fireworks with sidewalk chalk

This STEM activity adds some sizzle to your summertime sidewalk chalk using just a few basic ingredients: baking soda, cornstarch, food coloring, and vinegar.

Physics and Physical Science Experiments for Kids

47. Milk and food coloring experiment

Learn about surface tension by dropping food coloring into milk and watch as the colors move when you add some soap.

48. Rube Goldberg machine for kids

Make a Rube Goldberg machine featuring a series of moving pieces that affect one another: marbles, dominoes, books, and most any surface.

49. Balloon rocket car

Build a rocket balloon car using a Styrofoam tray, a balloon, and a straw; watch how air pressure moves it across the table.

50. Dominant eye / dominant hand

Looking for hands-on science experiments? Ask your kids to do simple tasks with their hands, feet, and eyes (like grab a ball, stand on one foot, or wink) to see which side is dominant.

51. Reaction time test

Test your reaction time by having a friend drop a ruler between two almost closed fingers. See how fast you can grab it.

52. Soap boats

Explore the scientific concept of density while taking a bath. Ivory soap boats do more than just float, they demonstrate density.

RELATED: 40 Snow Day Boredom Busters for Kids

53. Paper cup tower activity

Engineer a tall tower using red party cups and sheets of paper. How high can you go?

54. Best paper airplane design

Fold a paper airplane and then bend a corner to see how that changes its flight path.

55. Blind spots

Find your blind spot by moving a card with a speck on it until you can no longer see the spot.

56. Build a miniature windmill

Build a miniature windmill using a few simple objects. Watch it spin faster or slower based on the direction of the "blades."

57. Simple energy transfer experiment

Bounce a ball on top of another to watch how the energy transfers to the top ball and leaves the bottom one "dead."

58. Easy centripetal force experiment

Demonstrate centripetal force by spinning a bucket of water on a rope in a vertical circle.

More Easy Science Experiments for Kids

59. Egg drop project

Build a container for an egg that protects it from breaking and then test it out by dropping it from on high.

60. How to make a bouncy ball

Fashion your own bouncy balls with this recipe to see how various shapes bounce differently.

61. Balloon speakers

Use a balloon to amplify sound by holding it to your ear.

62. Shaving cream cloud experiment

Budding meteorologists can create shaving cream storm clouds and Technicolor raindrops.

63. Balloon static electricity

Make static electricity by rubbing balloons on clothing or shuffling on the carpet with socks, then zap someone with a quick touch.

64. Gummy bear science experiment

These gummies won't be so yummy in your tummy, but you can watch gummy bears grow by placing them in water, salt water, and vinegar.

65. Make a periscope

Build your own periscope using a milk container and carefully angled mirrors that allow you to see things above or behind you.

66. Fingerprint science experiment

Be a DIY spy with this fun fingerprint experiment. Collect fingerprints using one of these methods, and then dive a little deeper with a forensic study of fingerprint patterns.
This article may contain some affiliate links, which means we might earn a small commission if you make a purchase. There is no extra cost to the reader. We only recommend products and services that we have personally used or have thoroughly researched. This article was first published in 2014, but it has since been updated. Additional reporting and photos by Ally Noel except where noted.
67. Expanding ice experiment

Fill a plastic bottle to the brim with water and put it in the freezer; in a few hours, the bottle will crack because ice expands.

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67 Easy Science Experiments for Kids To Do at Home

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Searching for kid-friendly science experiments? These easy science experiments use household products, food, and other items you probably have on hand.

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This website is good for my research because these safe chemical reactions.

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Keep 'Em Busy All Day with 20 Classic Science Experiments

Your mini mad scientist loves mixing up soap bubbles in the sink so why not encourage that early love of experimenting with easy at-home science experiments? We've rounded up 20 classic concoctions, most of which call for on-hand ingredients. So get ready to make lightening, grow crystals and launch a rocket right in your homemade lab (well, you might want to do the rocket outside). Plus, we've rated each experiment from one to five sponges so you know the messiness factor ahead of time. Click through the gallery to get cooking!

Salt Crystal Feathers

Messiness Factor: One sponge

Photo: Schooling a Monkey
Want more at-home science experiments? We've got glow-in-the-dark science and gross-but-cool science perfect for your home lab! Tell us about your home science fun in the comments below.
- Christal Yuen & Amber Guetebier

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science experiments to do with your kids

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Keep 'Em Busy All Day with 20 Classic Science Experiments

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Keep 'Em Busy All Day with 20 Classic Science Experiments Your mini mad scientist loves mixing up soap bubbles in the sink so why not encourage that early love of experimenting with easy at-home science experiments? We've rounded up 20 classic concoctions, most of which call for on-hand ingredients.

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Chemistry experiment 10 - Elephant's toothpaste - YouTube

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Chemistry experiment 10 - Elephant's toothpaste - YouTube

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Chemistry experiment 10 - Elephant's toothpaste

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8 Water Tricks That'll Melt Your Mind - YouTube

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8 Water Tricks That'll Melt Your Mind - YouTube

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5 Salt Tricks That Look Like Magic - YouTube

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5 Salt Tricks That Look Like Magic - YouTube

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10 Amazing Experiments with Water - YouTube

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10 Amazing Experiments with Water - YouTube

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Funny Elephant Toothpaste (Chemical Reaction) - YouTube

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Funny Elephant Toothpaste (Chemical Reaction) - YouTube

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Elephant Toothpaste is a good experiment to do and I think I am going to do this! My family is working on getting all the equipment and the chemicals. (Potassium Iodide, and Hydrogen Peroxide).

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Funny Elephant Toothpaste (Chemical Reaction)

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10 Amazing Science Experiments! Compilation - YouTube

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10 Amazing Science Experiments! Compilation - YouTube

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These experiments aren't quite safe for me to do at home but they are still really cool.😊

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10 Amazing Science Experiments! Compilation

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My dad taught me a little bit about the periodic table the other day, I feel like I know a good amount.

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Interactions in Chemical Mixtures: Additive, Synergistic & Antagonistic - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Interactions in Chemical Mixtures: Additive, Synergistic & Antagonistic - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Chemical Reactions

If there's one thing chemicals like to do it's react! A chemical reaction is when two or more substances combine to form a new substance. Chemical reactions are occurring all the time in the natural environment where there are numerous different substances and chemicals coming in contact with each other. Some of these chemicals are natural, while some are human-made. When there is a reaction in nature, and it produces a toxic effect, we can put that reaction into one of four categories: additive, synergistic, antagonistic, and potentiating.

Types of Interactions

Additive effects are just what they sound like - the sum of the effects of the chemicals involved in the reaction.

This usually occurs with chemicals that are similar in structure, so they work well as a team - kind of like a superhero and a sidekick.

The sum of the additive effects is what you would expect if you were exposed to each chemical individually. An example of an additive interaction would be taking both aspirin and acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in drugs like Tylenol. If you take both together, you get the total effect of both pain-killing drugs on your body.

Synergistic effects are when the sum of the effects is more than each chemical individually. This can create dangerous situations because each chemical is designed to work well on its own.

This would be like pairing two really strong superheroes - individually they are both strong, and if combined, their powers are overwhelming.

For example, alcohol and acetaminophen are a dangerous combination for your body. This is because both are processed in your liver, and each puts a lot of strain on this small but powerful organ. If you put both drugs into your body at the same time, it can overwhelm the liver, sending it into failure.

Antagonistic effects are when the net effect of the chemical reaction is zero.

This would be like combining our superhero with her evil arch-nemesis. One is evil and one is good, but if you add up their efforts, you neutralize them both. Antagonistic effects are important because this is where we get antidotes for poisons.

Anti-venom for snakebites is an example of an antagonistic effect; so is the combination of caffeine and alcohol.

There is one more less-common type of interaction called potentiating effects. This is when one chemical enhances the effect of another chemical. Some chemicals are not toxic on their own, but when they are in the presence of some other chemicals, they become toxic.

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interactions in chemical mixtures: additive

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synergistic & antagonistic - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Interactions in Chemical Mixtures: Additive, Synergistic & Antagonistic - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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If there's one thing chemicals like to do it's react! A chemical reaction is when two or more substances combine to form a new substance. Chemical reactions are occurring all the time in the natural environment where there are numerous different substances and chemicals coming in contact with each other.

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8 simple chemistry experiments that your kids can do at home.

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8 simple chemistry experiments that your kids can do at home.

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8 simple chemistry experiments that your kids can do at home

8 simple chemistry experiments that your kids can do at home

Here are 8 hands on science experiments for kids over the school holiday. These experiments are great for older children, or with assistance from Mum or Dad. So why not pick an experiment together to help engage your kids in science and prepare them for the year ahead.

Cabbage chemistry

Follow these instructions to learn about acids and bases using red cabbage.

Safety: This activity requires the use of a knife, poisonous chemicals and hot water. Ask an adult to assist you. Always follow the safety advice on the products you are using.

You will need

fresh red cabbage

sharp knife

cutting board

hot tap water

7 clear plastic disposable cups

7 plastic spoons

large plastic bottle

range of the household substances which may include:

strongly acidic, e.g. powdered toilet cleaner

acidic, e.g. vinegar, lemon juice, white wine, lemonade or citric acid

weakly acidic, e.g. cream of tartar

neutral, e.g. pure water, shampoo or baby shampoo

slightly basic, e.g. bicarbonate of soda

basic, e.g. milk of magnesia, washing soda or floor cleaner

strongly basic, e.g. dishwasher liquid or powder

What to do

1. Using a sharp knife and cutting board, finely slice three or four red cabbage leaves.

2. Place the cabbage leaves in the plastic bottle, half fill the bottle with hot water and screw the lid on tightly.

3. Shake the bottle for a few minutes until the water becomes a deep purple colour. Leave the solution to cool.

4. Strain the solution and add sufficient water to the solution to make about 1 L.

5. In each of the cups, place a small amount of one of the above household substances in the following order: strongly acidic; acidic; slightly acidic; neutral; slightly basic; basic and strongly basic.

6. Now half fill each cup with the red cabbage water and stir the solution. If arranged in order, the jars should display a spectrum of colours from cherry red (strongly acidic), pink-red (acidic), lilac (slightly acidic), purple (neutral), blue (slightly basic), green (basic) and yellow (strongly basic).

What's happening

The things we eat and drink are all acidic, and the things we use for cleaning are basic. This is because basic substances taste unpleasant, but a cleaning agent usually needs to be basic to remove dirt and grease.

Substances that are acidic or basic make the eyes sting, so baby shampoo is made neutral.
Acids
Acids are a very common group of chemical compounds, many of which occur naturally. Acids can be strong or weak.

Citric acid, which occurs naturally in lemons, is a weak acid. Hydrochloric acid (used for soldering) and sulfuric acid (battery acid) are very strong acids.
Bases
Bases (often called alkalis) are another group of chemical compounds that have different chemical properties from acids. When bases and acids are added together, they will neutralise each other's properties.

We describe whether things are acidic, basic or neutral by using a scale called the pH scale. The pH scale ranges from zero to 14. A substance with a pH of:

0 is a very strong acid

3 - 5 is a weak acid

7 is neutral

8 - 9 is a weak base

13 - 14 is a very strong base.

Pure water has a pH of seven and is regarded as neutral.

Acids and bases can be detected by a group of chemical compounds called acid-base indicators. One of the first known naturally occurring indicators was a type of lichen called litmus. (Lichens are plant-like growths that are often found on rocks and tree bark.) Litmus turns red in the presence of an acid or blue with a base.

Most indicators used today to detect acids and bases are man-made. However, many plant pigments, such as the red cabbage you used, contain chemicals that act as acid-base indicators.

Lolly fountain

Learn more about gases by creating a soft drink fountain using lollies. What a sweet way to find out more about chemistry!

You will need

Roll of lollies (mint flavoured lollies work well)

2 L bottle of soft drink

Piece of paper or a tube for the lollies

Outdoor area

What to do

Do this activity in an outdoor area.

1. Open the bottle of soft drink and place the bottle on the ground so it will not tip over.

2. Roll up the paper into a cylinder that's just wide enough for the lollies to slide through.

3. Put your finger over the bottom of the roll and ask your friend to put the lollies into the paper tube.

4. Hold the tube of lollies just above the bottle and remove your finger so all the lollies drop straight in. You need to drop all the lollies into the bottle at the same time.

5. As soon as you have done that, move away from the bottle as quickly as possible.

Hints

1. Diet soft drink works just as well and is less sticky to clean up as it contains no sugar.

2. Orange soft drink doesn't always work. Neither does Solo as it is light on fizz.

3. Experiment with different types of lollies - Kool Mints were used in this activity. Try Mentos or other sugar coated lollies.

4. Experiment with the soft drink at room temperature or from the fridge.

What's happening?

Soft drink is bubbly because carbon dioxide gas has been forced into the bottle under pressure.

Until you open the bottle, the gas mostly stays dissolved in the liquid and cannot expand to form bubbles, which the gas will do when not under pressure.

If you shake the bottle and then open it, the gas escapes with a whoosh, taking some of the soft drink along with it. Adding anything to a soft drink enables more bubbles to form and escape.

Try stirring soft drink with a spoon - it gets less fizzy.

The lollies provide lots of surface area very quickly, which means the bubbles of gas form very rapidly in huge numbers.

You need non-smooth surfaces to enable the gas to form.

Both sand and sugar have the same effect when dropped in soft drink.

When you look at a glass of soft drink, there are normally just a few streams of bubbles coming off specific points on the glass where the surface is uneven.

Sometimes you see a stream of bubbles coming from the middle and if you look carefully you can often see a piece of dust with bubbles coming off its end.

The place where the bubbles start to form is called the centre of nucleation.

As the lolly dissolves, it forms hundreds of nucleation points which are tiny pits on the surface of the lolly where more carbon dioxide bubbles can form.

When all this gas is released, it thrusts the entire contents of the bottle skyward, in an incredible soft drink blast.

Make your own bath bombs

Follow these instructions to make your own bath bombs and learn about science while having fun in the bath!

You will need

What to do

1. Grease the sides and bases of a large muffin tray with a small amount of almond oil.

2. Place the citric acid and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together well, to form the base mixture.

3. Scoop out about half a cup of this mixture and put it in into another bowl. This will make about one or two bath bombs (depending on the size of the holes in your muffin tray). You could also use old plastic containers or anything that will hold a shape.

4. Add the flower petals or body glitter to the base mixture.

5. In the small glass jar, mix together 6 drops of your scented oil, 5 teaspoons of sweet almond oil and about 10 drops of food colouring.

6. Gradually pour the oil mixture into the half cup of the base mixture. While wearing rubber gloves, quickly mix it all together. The mixture is ready when it stays together in your hands without crumbling too much.

7. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray. Press it down firmly.

8. You can use the rest of the mixture with other types of scented oil or food colouring to make more bath bombs.

9. Leave the bombs in the tray to set for a few days.

10. Carefully up-end your bath bombs to remove them from the moulds.

11. Run a bath, hop in and drop a bomb. Watch it fizzzzzz!

What's happening?

When the bath bomb dissolves in water, there is a chemical reaction between the citric acid and the sodium bicarbonate. The result is called sodium citrate. During the reaction, carbon dioxide is released. This causes the 'fizzing' that you see, similar to that in carbonated water.

The sweet almond oil is released during this reaction. It will form a thin layer on your skin which can help to moisturise it. The lavender oil is for fragrance.

How to make sherbet

Follow these instructions to create an acid-base reaction in your mouth!

You will need

To do this activity you will need:

icing sugar

citric acid

bicarbonate soda

flavoured jelly crystals

teaspoon

dessert spoon

small mixing bowl

small snap lock bag.

What to do

To make sherbet you will need to:

1. add 1 level teaspoon of citric acid crystals to the bowl

2. add 1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the bowl

3. now add 3 heaped dessert spoons of icing sugar

4. add at least 2 level dessert spoons of jelly crystals (or more to taste)

5. place a small amount, about half a teaspoon on your tongue

6. after tasting you may need to vary the ingredients. If it is too bitter add more sugar, if there isn't enough fizz you may need to add either bicarbonate soda or citric acid. Make sure you add only in small amounts, remember you can always add more but it is very hard to remove some.

What's happening?

You have just created an acid-base reaction in your mouth. When you combine an acid (in this activity the citric acid) and an alkaline (the bicarbonate soda) with saliva they mix together to create a gas in the form of lots of tiny bubbles.

This is called an acid-based reaction and it's what gives sherbet its fizz. You are actually feeling the sensation of carbon dioxide bubbles on your tongue. These are the same bubbles that are in fizzy drinks.

The icing sugar is needed to add sweetness as the citric acid and bicarbonate soda are quite sour. Citric acid is one of the acids found in lemons, oranges and limes. That is why they are called 'citric fruit'.

The other acid in lemons and other citric fruit is called ascorbic acid. This is commonly known as vitamin C. The jelly crystals simply add flavour.

Rubber egg

Follow these instructions to make an egg bounce while learning about chemical reactions.

You will need

Equipment needed for this activity includes:

hard-boiled egg, with shell on

glass of vinegar.

What to do

To make your eggs bounce you will need to:

1. Put the egg into the vinegar - you should see bubbles start to form on the egg.

2. Leave the egg undisturbed for at least a day. You should see some wonderful scum form.

3. Take the egg out of the vinegar and rinse it with water. The shell will rub off.

4. Give the egg a poke with your finger and squeeze it gently.

What's happening

Vinegar, or dilute acetic acid, 'eats up' the calcium carbonate in the egg shell, just leaving the inner membrane, or skin, of the egg behind. As the calcium carbonate is responsible for making the shell hard, the vinegar soaked egg feels soft and rubbery.

When calcium carbonate (the egg shell) and acetic acid (the vinegar) combine, a chemical reaction takes place and carbon dioxide gas is released. That's why you see the bubbles.

The chemical reaction keeps happening for about a day until all of the calcium carbonate in the egg is used up. Calcium carbonate is in eggshells, seashells, limestone, and many other materials.

Let's have a closer look at the chemical reaction. Calcium carbonate's formula is CaCO and acetic acid is CHCOOH.

The calcium ions (Ca) float free in the solution. Ions are atoms or molecules that have an electric charge due to the loss or gain of electrons.

Applications

Limestone is a sedimentary rock that is largely made of calcium carbonate. It is ordinarily white, but may be coloured by impurities; iron oxide making it brown, yellow, or red and carbon making it blue, black, or grey. The texture varies from coarse to fine.

Most limestones are formed over thousands of years from the skeletons of marine invertebrates. Among the important varieties of limestone are marl, chalk, oolite, travertine, dolomite, and marble.

Acid rain causes reactions like the ones in this activity. One kind of acid rain can come from air pollution caused by burning fuels that have sulfur atoms, which when burnt produce sulphur dioxide gas.

When the sulfur dioxide mixes in with rain, it turns to weak sulfuric acid. When the acid rain hits the limestone it slowly makes it fall apart, like the egg shell did. People use limestone in buildings and statues.

This is why over time, buildings and statues are being damaged by acid rain.

If you collect small rock samples and drop them in vinegar, you may see bubbles appear, like they did on the egg. The presence of bubbles indicates that calcium carbonate may be present in the sample.

Calcium carbonate reacts with acids to produce carbon dioxide gas, which we observe as bubbles. This is called the 'acid test'. The 'acid test' is one of many tests that geologists use to determine the identity of a rock sample.

Creating Crystals

You will need

What to do

1. Label the containers 'sugar', 'salt' and 'bi-carb'.

2. Pour half a cup of warm water into the container labelled 'sugar'.

3. Add a spoonful of sugar to the water and stir until dissolved. Keep adding sugar until no more will dissolve.

4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3, but with the salt instead of sugar.

5. Again repeat Steps 2 and 3, but this time with bi-carb soda instead of sugar or salt.

6. Label the small plastic cups 'sugar', 'salt' and 'bi-carb'.

7. Use separate eye-droppers to put a few drops of each container's solution into the matching cup.

8. Place the cups in a warm, sunny place and leave them until the liquid has evaporated. What do you see?

You can try this activity with other crystalline substances as well.

What's happening?

When a solid (or 'solute') is dissolved in the water until no more dissolves, the solution is 'saturated'. The amount of substance that dissolves in water increases with temperature. As the solution cools back down to room temperature, there is now more solute in the water than would normally be the case - the solution is 'supersaturated'.

As the water evaporates, the solute precipitates out of solution in the form of crystals. This is an example of crystallisation. You will notice that each precipitate forms slightly different crystals: they might be different in size and shape. The size and shape of a crystal depend on a number of factors including chemical formula, temperature and pressure. In general, crystals that form slowly tend to be larger than crystals that form quickly.

Slime

You will need

What to do

1. Pour some cornflour into a mixing bowl.

2. Stir in small amounts of water until the cornflour has become a very thick paste.

3. To make the slime the colour of your choice, thoroughly stir about five drops of food colouring into the mixture.

4. Stir your slime REALLY slowly. This shouldn't be hard to do.

5. Stir your slime REALLY fast. This should be almost impossible.

6. Now punch your slime REALLY hard and fast. It should feel like you're punching a solid.

You can keep your cornflour and water mixture covered in a fridge for several days. If the cornflour settles, you need to stir it to make it work well again.

What's happening

Anything that flows is called a fluid. This means that both gases and liquids are fluids.

Fluids like water which flow easily are said to have low viscosity, whereas fluids like cold honey which do not flow so easily are said to have a high viscosity.

Cornflour slime is a special type of fluid that doesn't follow the usual rules of fluid behaviour. When a pressure is applied to slime, its viscosity increases and the cornflour slime becomes thicker.

At a certain point, slime actually seems to lose its flow and behave like a solid. Cornflour slime is an example of a shear-thickening fluid.

The opposite happens in shear-thinning fluids; they get runnier when you stir them or shake them up. For example, when toothpaste is sitting on a toothbrush it is pretty thick, so you can turn the toothbrush upside down and the toothpaste doesn't fall off.

But if it was that thick when you tried to squeeze it out of the tube, there is no way you could manage it. Fortunately, toothpaste gets runnier when you are squeezing it out of the tube. Other shear-thinning fluids include:

Although there are lots of shear-thinning and shear-thickening fluids, nobody has a really good idea why they behave the way they do.

The interactions between atoms in the fluids are so complicated that even the world's most powerful supercomputers can not model what is happening. This can be a real problem for people who design machinery that involves shear-thinning fluids, because it makes it hard to be sure if they will work.

Snot Slime

You will need

1 tablespoon of unflavoured gelatine (from supermarkets)

½ cup golden syrup or glucose

1 tablespoon of salt

Hot water

Food colouring

Heat-proof bowl

What to do

1. Place the gelatine and salt in your bowl.

2. Add ½ cup of syrup.

3. Add ½ cup of hot water. Now is the time to add food colouring if you want icky green or yellow coloured snot.

4. Mix every thing together and cool in a fridge for 30 minutes.

5. Run a fork through the snotty mixture to see what it looks like. Your mucus will get thicker and thicker as it cools, if it is too thick, you can add more water.

What's happening?

You have just made a realistic model of your very own snot. Mucus is composed of water, epithelial (surface) cells, dead leukocytes (white blood cells), mucins (large proteins), and inorganic salts. Your home made mucus contains water, salt and proteins (gelatine is animal protein, usually made from beef or pig skin and hooves), almost like real mucus.

The gelatine dissolves in hot water making a thick solution, but is insoluble (won't dissolve) in cold water. When cooled, the particles swell to make jelly-like goo.

Applications

Mucus has an important role to play in your body. In your nose it traps dust and anything else unwanted in the air. Mucus dries around particles which harden and this means it can take a quick exit out of your body when you blow your nose.

It's your mucous membrane that makes snot, and this lines the inside of your nose and respiratory system. The outermost cells of this membrane produce the thick mucus fluid.

You may think that mucus is only found in your nose, but did you know that you also find it in your mouth, lungs, stomach and intestines!

When you get a common cold, an infection in your upper respiratory tract, your body produces loads more mucus than normal to carry away waste material. When sick, your mucus can change colour to yellow or green because of trapped bacteria, virus particles and white blood cells - the causalities of your body fighting the viral or bacterial infection.
Reference:
These experiments are from our partners at CSIRO.

http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Education/Programs/Do-it-yourself-science/Chemical-sciences-activities.aspx

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8 simple chemistry experiments that your kids can do at home

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8 simple chemistry experiments that your kids can do at home Here are 8 hands on science experiments for kids over the school holiday. These experiments are great for older children, or with assistance from Mum or Dad. So why not pick an experiment

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Chemistry Is Everywhere - American Chemical Society

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Chemistry Is Everywhere - American Chemical Society

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Chemistry Is Everywhere - American Chemical Society

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American Chemical Society: Chemistry for Life.

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Kids Safe Chemical Reactions Experiments Menu

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Kids Safe Chemical Reactions Experiments Menu

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Kids Safe Chemical Reactions Experiments Menu

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Kids Chemical Reactions experiments list - Educational experiments to help kids Learn about getting chemicals to react with each other.

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This is just here to help me define chemistry. It is going to help me when I get to the writing.✏️💻

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You might think of chemistry only in the context of lab tests, food additives or dangerous substances, but the field of chemistry involves everything around us.

"Everything you hear, see, smell, taste, and touch involves chemistry and chemicals (matter)," according to the American Chemical Society (ACS), a non-profit science organization for the advancement of chemistry, chartered by the U.S. Congress. "And hearing, seeing, tasting, and touching all involve intricate series of chemical reactions and interactions in your body."

So, even if you don't work as a chemist, you're doing chemistry, or something that involves chemistry, with pretty much everything you do. In everyday life, you do chemistry when you cook, when you use cleaning detergents to wipe off your counter, when you take medicine or when you dilute concentrated juice so that the taste isn't as intense.
Related: Whoa! Enormous 'cotton candy' explosion in kids' chemistry lab
According to the ACS, chemistry is the study of matter, defined as anything that has mass and takes up space, and the changes that matter can undergo when it is subject to different environments and conditions.

Chemistry seeks to understand not only the properties of matter, like the mass or composition of a chemical element, but also how and why matter undergoes certain changes - whether something transformed because it combined with another substance, froze because it was left for two weeks in a freezer, or changed colors because it was exposed to too much sunlight.

Chemistry basics

The reason why chemistry touches everything we do is because almost everything in existence can be broken down into chemical building blocks.
Related: How are elements grouped in the periodic table?
The main building blocks in chemistry are chemical elements, which are substances made of a single atom. Each chemical is unique, composed of a set number of protons, neutrons and electrons, and is identified by a name and a chemical symbol, such as "C" for carbon. The elements that scientists have discovered so far are listed in the periodic table of elements, and include both elements that are found in nature like carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, as well as those that are manmade, like Lawrencium.

Chemical elements can bond together to form chemical compounds, which are substances made up of multiple elements, like carbon dioxide (which is made of one carbon atom connected to two oxygen atoms), or multiple atoms of a single element, like oxygen gas (which is made of two oxygen atoms connected together). These chemical compounds can then bond with other compounds or elements to form countless other substances and materials.

Chemistry as a physical science

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Chemistry is typically considered a physical science, as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, because the study of chemistry does not involve living things. Most of the chemistry involved in research and development, such as making new products and materials for customers, falls within this purview.

But the distinction as a physical science becomes a bit blurry in the case of biochemistry, which explores the chemistry of living things, according to the Biochemical Society. The chemicals and chemical processes studied by biochemists are not technically considered "living," but understanding them is important to understanding how life works.

The five main branches of chemistry

Traditionally, chemistry is broken into five main branches, according to the online chemistry textbook published by LibreText. There are also more specialized fields, such as food chemistry, environmental chemistry and nuclear chemistry, but this section focuses on chemistry's five major subdisciplines.

Analytical chemistry involves the analysis of chemicals, and includes qualitative methods like looking at color changes, as well as quantitative methods like examining the exact wavelength(s) of light that a chemical absorbed to result in that color change.
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These methods enable scientists to characterize many different properties of chemicals, and can benefit society in a number of ways. For example, analytical chemistry helps food companies make tastier frozen dinners by detecting how chemicals in food change when they are frozen over time. Analytical chemistry is also used to monitor the health of the environment by measuring chemicals in water or soil, for example.

Biochemistry, as mentioned above, uses chemistry techniques to understand how biological systems work at a chemical level. Thanks to biochemistry, researchers have been able to map out the human genome, understand what different proteins do in the body and develop cures for many diseases.

Inorganic chemistry studies the chemical compounds in inorganic, or non-living things such as minerals and metals. Traditionally, inorganic chemistry considers compounds that do not contain carbon (which are covered by organic chemistry), but this definition is not completely accurate, according to the ACS.

Some compounds studied in inorganic chemistry, like "organometallic compounds," contain metals, which are metals that are attached to carbon - the main element that's studied in organic chemistry. As such, compounds such as these are considered part of both fields.
Related: Nobel Prize in chemistry given for solvers of 'mirror-image problem'
Inorganic chemistry is used to create a variety of products, including paints, fertilizers and sunscreens.

Organic chemistry deals with chemical compounds that contain carbon, an element considered essential to life. Organic chemists study the composition, structure, properties and reactions of such compounds, which along with carbon, contain other non-carbon elements such as hydrogen, sulfur and silicon. Organic chemistry is used in many applications, as described by the ACS, such as biotechnology, the petroleum industry, pharmaceuticals and plastics.

Physical chemistry uses concepts from physics to understand how chemistry works. For example, figuring out how atoms move and interact with each other, or why some liquids, including water, turn into vapor at high temperatures. Physical chemists try to understand these phenomena at a very small scale - on the level of atoms and molecules - to derive conclusions about how chemical reactions work and what gives specific materials their own unique properties.
Research and development
This type of research helps inform other branches of chemistry and is important for product development, according to the ACS. For example, physical chemists may study how certain materials, such as plastic, may react with chemicals the material is designed to come in contact with.

What do chemists do?

Chemists work in a variety of fields, including research and development, quality control, manufacturing, environmental protection, consulting and law. They can work at universities, for the government or in private industry, according to the ACS.
Environmental protection
Here are some examples of what chemists do:
Related: Pesticide residue linked to lower fertility in women Law
In academia, chemists performing research aim to further knowledge about a particular topic, and may not necessarily have a specific application in mind. Their results, however, can still be applied to relevant products and applications.

In industry, chemists in research and development use scientific knowledge to develop or improve a specific product or process. For example, food chemists improve the quality, safety, storage and taste of food; pharmaceutical chemists develop and analyze the quality of drugs and other medical formulations; and agricultural chemists develop fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides necessary for large-scale crop production.

Sometimes, research and development may not involve bettering the product itself, but rather the manufacturing process involved in making that product. Chemical engineers and process engineers devise new ways to make the manufacturing of their products easier and more cost effective, such as increasing the speed and/or yield of a product for a given budget.
This article was updated on Nov. 5 by How It Works Editor Ben Biggs
Environmental chemists study how chemicals interact with the natural environment, characterizing the chemicals and chemical reactions present in natural processes in the soil, water and air. For example, scientists can collect soil, water or air from a place of interest and analyze it in a laboratory to determine if human activities have contaminated, or will contaminate, the environment or affect it in other ways. Some environmental chemists can also help remediate, or remove contaminants, from the soil, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Scientists with a background in environmental chemistry can also work as consultants for various organizations, such as chemical companies or consulting firms, providing guidance on how practices and procedures can be completed in accordance with environmental regulations.

Chemists can use their academic background to provide advice on or advocate for scientific issues. For instance, chemists may work in intellectual property, where they might apply their scientific background to copyright issues in the sciences, or in environmental law, where they may represent special interest groups and file for approval from regulating agencies before certain activities occur.

Chemists can also perform analyses that help law enforcement. Forensic chemists capture and analyze the physical evidence left behind at a crime scene to help determine the identities of the people involved, as well as to answer other vital questions regarding how and why the crime was carried out. Forensic chemists use a wide variety of analysis methods, such as chromatography and spectrometry, which help identify and quantify chemicals.

Additional resources:

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You might think of chemistry only in the context of lab tests, food additives or dangerous substances, but the field of chemistry involves everything around us. "Everything you hear, see, smell, taste, and touch involves chemistry and chemicals (matter)," according to the American Chemical Society (ACS), a non-profit science organization for the advancement of chemistry, chartered by the U.S.