The Colorful Foam Machine

Question:

Will foam form when you mix certain household items?

Hypothesis:

If certain household items are mixed then carbon dioxide will form and it will create foam.

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Materials: 

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    1. Water
    2. Vinegar
    3. Dish soap 
    4. Baking soda
    5. Plastic teaspoons
    6. Tall plastic container
    7. Plastic cups
    8. Food coloring
    9. 2oz cups                                  10. Garbage bag
                                             11. Paper towels

Safety Procedures
1. Do not eat any of the materials such as vinegar, baking soda and dish soap.
2. Be careful when handling the food coloring bottles so your hands and clothes don't get stained.

Procedure:


  1. Put a teaspoon of dish soap into cup A.
  2. Then pour 2oz of vinegar into cup A. Gently stir with a spoon. 
  3. In cup B put a teaspoon of baking soda.
  4. Next pour 2oz of water into cup B. Then gently stir with a different spoon.
  5. Put a couple drops of food coloring into the tall plastic container.
  6. Then pour the contents of cup A and B into the tall plastic container
  7. Stand back to watch the colored foam form and rise.

Testing Various Combination of Materials: We did five tests using different amounts of vinegar, water, baking soda, dish soap and Tide detergent to see which gave us the best amount of foam. Dish soap gave us more foam than Tide detergent.

The Science behind it

When the vinegar, which is an acid, and the baking soda, which is a base, mix together it creates a chemical reaction. Carbon dioxide is formed in this reaction. The carbon dioxide gas then mixes with the dish soap and creates the bubbles and foam.


Conclusions

We concluded that when we mix a base and an acid carbon dioxide is formed. A reaction is formed between the baking soda and vinegar, which creates foam.





About Julie R

My name Julie and I am in Mr.Benedetto's 5th grade class. I have an older sister who is 15 years old and a cat who is 19 years old. I really hope you liked our science experiment.

About Laura Dipalma

My name is Laura. I'm in Ms.Luke's 5th grade class. I have one older brother and a dog. I hope you enjoyed our science fair project!