One of the most hated courses both in middle and high school is chemistry. Many fear this topic because of its assumed difficulty. One method to raising the interest in this field is through demonstrations of fun little labs. Below I will provide a few simple procedures of some small, simple and fun experiments.
Experiment one: Let’s have fun with dry ice
Dry ice is carbon dioxide (CO2) in solid form. Of course, it is well known that CO2 is gas at room temperature so you need to buy dry ice from the store normally found at temperatures below -78°C.
Materials needed for this experiment:
Safety glasses
Dry ice
Liquid dish soap
Water
Food coloring
Large cylinder
Procedure:
In the large flask, add water 3/4 of the way up and a few drops of food coloring. You could do this demonstration with two flasks, each with a different food color (red and blue for example). Mix well so that the food coloring is fully distributed. To each cylinder, add a small chunk of dry ice carefully, sublimation (thin smoke will escape from the cylinder) should occur. Don’t attempt to cover the top of cylinder, allow the smoke to escape. Add a few drops of liquid dish soap to the cylinder and observe the bubbles form.
Experiment Two: Bubble orbs
Once again, we will have some fun with dry ice. This time we will make bubble orbs, which simply bubbles filled with CO2.
Materials needed for this experiment:
Safety glasses
Dry ice
Large filter flask (1 litre)
Plastic hose
Water
Liquid dish soap
200 mL beaker or a milk glass
Cotton gloves
Procedure:
In the 1L filter flask, add water about 3/4 of the way (make sure to keep some space where the septum is, maybe an inch or two). Into the 200 mL beaker, add water and a few drops of liquid soap. Place a chunk of dry ice into the filter flask. Now attach one end of the plastic hose to the filter flask, and dip the other end into the beaker with the liquid soap a few times. Take the soapy end of the hose out of the liquid soap. Cover the top of the filter flask with filter paper (don’t fully seal the top) to force the steam out of the septum. Bubble orbs should form. Now put on the cotton gloves and try to bounce some of the bubbles around a few times. Maybe even have the kids bounce the bubbles around a few times for some fun.
