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You are here: Home / Education / Bubbles and heat

Bubbles and heat

March 29, 2019 by Lisa Grable 5 Comments

Energy can be generated in so many ways. Try this energy experiment to explore a chemical reaction.

bubbles and heat energy experiment

This experiment uses materials you can find around the house. You will mix two substances to make a third. Heat will be a factor as chemical energy. What do you think will happen when you make the mixture?

endothermic vinegar baking soda

Safety note: Be sure to explain safety precautions to children. This experiment uses acids and bases. Eye protection should be used. Measuring devices should not be mixed between substances. Disclaimer: All information provided on this site is for entertainment purposes only. Using any information from thecasabouquet.com is at your own risk.

Instructions

Power on the Vernier LabQuest. Press the “home” key and select LabApp. Connect the temperature probe in CH1 at the top of the LabQuest. Use the probe to collect temperature data. Note: this experiment can be done with a thermometer. It can also be done qualitatively by using your hand outside the bag to feel the temperature and note the differences.

endothermic lab set up

Record the room temperature first. Measure 1 tsp of vinegar with the teaspoon measure. Pour into an empty plastic bag. Measure and record the temperature of the vinegar in the bag. Feel the outside of the bag with your hand and record your observations.

Scoop 1 tsp of baking soda with the assigned teaspoon. Carefully pour into bag.

Quickly, put the temperature probe in the bag and record the temperature again.

Remove temperature probe from the bag, and feel the outside of bag. Note temperature change.

When done, carefully seal up the plastic bag and dispose in the trash.

You can continue exploring if you have some litmus or hydrion pH paper or make some red cabbage indicator. Test the pH of the baking soda, the vinegar, and the product solution. What happens to the pH of the product if you double the vinegar? Double the baking soda? Would the product solution of this reaction make a good cleaner around the house?

horizontal bar with plumeria

Supplies

  • vinegar,
  • baking soda,
  • reclosable plastic bags,
  • paper towels,
  • Paper or notebook for recording results, pen
  • LabQuest, temperature probe,
  • blue scoops (or two 1 tsp measures, or two small medicine cups).

Label the scoops with “vinegar” and “baking soda”. You donʻt want the “vinegar” spoon in the baking soda container! If you are doing this with large groups of children, the blue scoops are great. Plastic medicine cups work, but it’s hard to see the markings. You can use a permanent marker on the outside to make the marks more visible.

I recommend getting vinegar in a plastic bottle and using a reclosable plastic bag to store the box of baking soda. Keep the original containers as your “stock” containers and give the children the materials in smaller labeled containers to help with cross-contamination.

I’ve found that inexpensive classroom thermometers (the kind with the red alcohol inside) don’t hold up well if used with lots of children. A cooking thermometer will work.

measuring tools

Small cafeteria trays are great for containing mess. They help if you have to set up several workstations. They are also handy for encouraging children to help in the clean up process.

What is the science?

Content: energy, thermodynamics, endothermic, chemical reaction, temperature

This experiment involves mixing vinegar and baking soda together and measuring the temperature difference of the mixture after mixing. Here is the chemical equation:

NaHCO3 (aq) + HC2H3O2 (aq) + (heat)——> CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + NaC2H3O2 (aq)

Baking soda is sodium hydrogen carbonate, a base or alkaline. Vinegar is 5% acetic acid. The products are carbon dioxide, water, and sodium acetate. Sodium acetate, a base, is sometimes used for “salt and vinegar” flavor on snack foods. The pH scale is a measure of acidity. A pH less than 7 is an acid, higher than 7 is alkaline.

Can you explain how the reaction uses heat from the atmosphere? This is an endothermic reaction. A different process is used to burn fossil fuels and coal to emit heat (exothermic), which heats water to turn turbines.

horizontal bar with plumeria

Resource links

  • http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=ELE806
    • Endothermic/exothermic slide show from Wisconsin Online
  • http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/kids/make-a-volcano.html
    • Let’s make a volcano from Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology
  • https://www.thoughtco.com/making-red-cabbage-ph-indicator-603650
    • How to make red cabbage indicator from Thought.co
  • https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/bubblebomb.html
    • Bubble bomb from the Exploratorium
  • http://www.vernier.com/products/interfaces/labq2/
    • LabQuest2 from Vernier Software & Technology

Letʻs talk story

Children can easily do this experiment and practice measuring and observing. Chemical energy is conceptually different to learn from physicsʻ potential and kinetic energy. Currently, many “natural” cleaning recipes on the Internet use vinegar with baking soda. This experiment introduces the science of the reaction and can open the door to discussing conservation of energy and balancing chemical equations. I like to ask children what they think is happening when they see the bubbling and foaming – many think it’s boiling. These kind of events, and following up on what is really happening, is what makes science so fun!

I’ll be looking for comments below, or contact me at lisa [at] casabouquet[dot]com.

plumeria bar

Affiliate links: if you make a purchase using these links, I’ll receive a small compensation towards maintaining this blog.

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Filed Under: Education, Science Tagged With: chemical reaction, endothermic, energy, energy experiment, experiment, temperature, thermodynamics, vinegar and baking soda

Previous Post: « Thinking safety! science activities
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Comments

  1. marilyn1998

    April 10, 2019 at 4:16 pm

    Congratulations! Your post was my feature pick at #ThursdayFavoriteThings this week. Visit me at https://www.marilynstreats.com on thursday morning to see your feature! All hosts choose their own features from the comments left on their blog so be sure to return to my blog to see your feature. I invite you to leave more links to be shared and commented upon. Please don’t forget to add your link numbers or post title so we can be sure to visit!

    Reply
    • Lisa Grable

      April 17, 2019 at 2:40 pm

      Hey Marilyn, I’m so excited for this honor! Baking soda and vinegar is so easy, but it’s so full of things to learn!

      Reply
  2. marilyn1998

    April 10, 2019 at 3:28 pm

    Thank you for sharing at #ThursdayFavoriteThings. Pinned and shared.

    Reply
  3. Clearissa

    April 3, 2019 at 10:02 am

    What a fun thing to do with my grand. TFS

    Reply
    • Lisa Grable

      April 4, 2019 at 6:02 pm

      Hey Clearissa, children love doing this and you can introduce science methods!

      Reply

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Lisa Grable, Casa BouquetI’m an educator, grandmother, classic movie fan, sewer and crafter, and I love Hawaii. Read more about me …

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