There are lots of fun experiments that chemists can do to impress their friends. Here are 4 simple ways you can use science to blow people’s minds.
1.Colourful Cabbage
For a fun, colourful experiment, take some cabbage leaves, some glasses of water and a few different food colourings. In each large glass of water, add a few drops of a different food colouring and place a single cabbage leaf in each. Leave them overnight and by the morning each of the leaves will have changed colour. This is because plants absorb water and, in doing so, the cabbage leaves will take on the colouring of the dye in the water.
2. Pencil Trick
With this trick you can poke pencils through a bag filled with water, without the water spilling out. First, take a polyethylene bag (like the plastic bags you might put your sandwiches in) pour in some water and seal it up. Next push your pencils through the bag until they come out the other side. Although you’ve punctured the bag, the water won’t escape. This is because the polyethylene molecules move closer together when the bag is broken apart, and the polyethylene tightens around the pencils.
3. Invisible Ink
This is a great trick for budding spies who want to write secret messages. All you need to do is squeeze the juice from half a lemon into a cup and mix in a few drops of water. Dip a cotton bud into the mixture and use it to write your message on a piece of white paper. Leave it to dry, then when you’re ready to show someone your secret message, have them hold the paper next to a light bulb to heat it up. This experiment works because lemon juice oxidises and turns brown when heated. Mixing it with water means that it is invisible on the paper but once you heat it up, your secret message will appear. Other substances that work in a similar way include honey, orange juice, onion juice, milk and vinegar.
4. Fireproof Balloon
All you need for this experiment is a few balloons, a candle, matches and some water. As this experiment includes fire, always be extra careful and do it in presence of an responsible adult. Blow one of the balloons up, and hold it to the flame of the candle. You’ll see it will burst when it comes into contact with the flame. Now take another balloon and fill it with water. Hold it to the flame. This time it shouldn’t burst..! This is because the water absorbs the heat from the candle and stops the balloon from bursting.
One to watch on Youtube
When you drop half a pack of mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke, the Coke will erupt out of the bottle with astonishing force! This process is called nucleation. It happens because the Mentos causes the production of more carbon dioxide, which is another name for all that fizz in the Coke and the build-up of so much pressure forces the Coke to explode out of the bottle. Watch the full experiment here.
