Kitchen Magic

On Monday night we went to a science activity at the Orem Library titled "Kitchen Magic."  While some of the materials used can definitely be found in a typical kitchen or household, many of the others belong in a chemistry lab.  But we loved the demonstrations and even learned a few things.  For example, the word exothermic was thrown around quite a bit.  If you know what that means, you'll know why they used that term so often as you look through the pictures and video below.

Blowing bubbles with dish soap and methane gas
means the bubbles go UP.

And guess what happens when those methane-bubbles meet an open flame?

"Elephnt Toothpaste"

Dry ice goes directly from solid to gas when placed in water, and if
you rub the rim of its container with a soapy rag, the gas gets trapped inside
the soapy film on top and forms an enormous bubble.

When you run electricity through a pickle, it glows!
The presenter said he's tried eating the pickle after this experiment, and it tastes
really bad.  (Like a burned pickle.)  The kids wanted him to eat it anyway, though,
so the (huge) crowd chanted "EAT IT!" over and over again until he took a bite.  And
guess what?  It tasted bad.  And that is what we call Peer Pressure.  (Or Kid Pressure?)

Burning Steel Wool

They had three balloons with different gases, all of which they torched.

#1 - Helium - no explosion, just a popped balloon

#2 - Hydrogen - small explosion

#3 - Two parts Hydrogen + One part Oxygen - big explosion (as seen in the above video)

Good times!