Experiments

What’s more fun than using chemicals to destroy stuff? Using chemicals to destroy stuff AND make something cool!

Acetone is great at breaking down polymers, those long chains of atoms that make up plastics. It’s used as the active ingredient in nail polish remover for that very reason! More concentrated acetone, which is sold in hardware stores and used as a cleaner and paint thinner, can dissolve Styrofoam (polystyrene foam) quite quickly. We can use this fact to make some cool decorations.

Acetone isn't good for your skin (it can dry it out) and would be really bad to get in your eyes, so the first things you'll need (besides adult supervision) are gloves and safety glasses.

Read more: Acetone Art

This week we are going to investigate electricity by making a simple circuit.

We'll need just a few simple supplies - a lightbulb (a flasglight lightbulb is recommended, some copper wire and a battery. An adult friend is also handy because he or she can help us experiment safely with electricity. :)

First, let's take a look at the cooper wire. You need to make sure that some of the copper part of the wire is showing. If not have an adult help you strip the wire so you can access the metal inside of the wire.

Read more: Simple Circuit

Plastic bottles, plastic spoons, plastic packaging, plastic bags… we use a lot of plastic. Plastics are made from polymers, which are super long chains of atoms. We love them because they’re cheap and super sturdy for how light they are. The problem is that they’re so sturdy that, after we throw them away, they can sit around in a landfill for a million years! Almost all plastics we use come from petroleum products, but recently more is being made from corn, and you can make some corn starch plastic at home!

Mix equal parts water and corn starch into a sandwich baggy. About a tablespoon works well, which is two large spoonfuls of each. If you’ve made oobleck before, this mixture should look familiar, except that this will be more watery. Next add 2-3 drops of vegetable oil and mix that in.

Read more: Corn Starch Plastic

This week, let’s learn how to make your very own salt crystal garden. That’s right we are going to grow salt! While we are not making new salt we are going to use the salt to make crystals.

First, we will need to make our growing solution. Take a spoon full of Mrs. Stewarts Liquid Bluing (can normally be found in the laundry detergent isle at most stores), a spoon full of salt, and a spoon full of ammonia and mix it in a cup. The portions do not have to be exact, but it should end up being a one-to-one-to-one ratio. This means, there should be the same amount of bluing agent as there is ammonia as there is salt.

Mix this solution together for about a minuet. The goal is to dissolve as much salt as you can but do not worry, all of the salt will not dissolve.

Read more: Grow Your Own Crystal Garden

Our experiment this week is a very simple science experiment that you may have conducted and never even noticed!

You'll need a candle, something to light the candle and an adult helper since we are doing a fire experiment. Also, we recommend putting on a pair of safety glasses and doing your best mad scientist laugh.

For the experiment we're going to light the candle and then blow it out. Now here's the cool part! Once you've blown out the candle, you'll probably notice smoke coming still rising from the top. Strike another match and place the flame near the smoke. You might see the candle suddenly light again!

Read more: Traveling Flame