experiments | From The Committed Heart

Fun air pressure experiment.
-You will need a cup completely full of water, two straws, and scissors.
-Put one straw in the water and cut it so that it sticks out of the water by only about 1/2 inch.
-Angle the straw upwards so that the air coming out of it passes right over the top of the straw in the cup. Keep blowing and blowing. This will make the air move faster over the top of the straw in the water. As a result, the air pressure above the straw in the water will decrease, and when there is less air pressure above the straw, what do you think will happen?

Try it and see 🙂

*This experiment came from Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day

Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day: Exploring Creation with Zoology 1

Today we experimented with baking soda and vinegar which resulted in gas.

Gas Balloon:

Take one small empty plastic soda or water bottle and carefully pour 1/2 cup of vinegar into it.

Then put 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a small balloon. Next carefully put the neck of the balloon all the way over the neck of the bottle without letting any baking soda into the bottle.

Now for the fun part…choose a brave participant to lift the balloon up so that the baking soda falls from the balloon into the bottle and mixes with the vinegar. Watch the balloon fill up. My daughter Victoria said, “I’ll remember this the next time I want to blow up a balloon, so I don’t have to blow it up myself”. Ha! 🙂

Bag Bomb:

Put 1/4 cup of pretty warm water into a small (sandwich size) zip-lock bag. Then add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water in the bag.

Put 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda into the middle of a tissue, wrap up the tissue paper by folding it.

Now partially zip the bag closed but leave enough space to add the tissue with the baking soda in it. Once you place the baking soda packet inside the bag, quickly zip it up completely closed and drop it on the ground.

Let the expanding begin and if all goes well, you might just hear a little POP!

So, what just happened?

Take out the science notebooks/logs for the simple explanation. When the baking soda and vinegar are mixed together they create a gas, (carbon dioxide – the stuff we breathe out) gasses need a lot of room and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bag, and keeps filling the bag until the bag can no longer hold it any more and, POP or Ssss!