Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Science Experiment #2 – Color Changing Liquids

Our second experiment in our science kit used red cabbage powder (which looks purple), citric acid, and baking soda.

We put water in two cups, then added the cabbage powder to each and watched as the water slowly turned a very pretty purple.science 2 (1)

M added citric acid to one of the cups, then baking soda to the other. The first one turned a pinkish red and the second one turned blue! The citric acid and baking soda are both white, so M did not expect the color change at all! science 2 (2)

Then M had a little fun adding more citric acid or baking soda and watching the colors get darker or lighter. Soon he mixed them together and this started some pretty pink fizzing. :) science 2 (5)

Of course, soon everything was dumped out into the tray together and M examined it closely:science 2 (7)

Eventually I gave him a small cup of vinegar and a little bowl of baking soda. He kept scooping the baking soda into the tray, then he used a pipette to squeeze a little vinegar onto the baking soda piles. science 2 (8) To quote M, this was “super-fun”! :)

Baking soda is a base, citric acid is an acid, and the cabbage powder is a neutral. The cabbage juice is a natural dye, and adding a base or acid to it will cause it to turn either red or blue.

For more science fun, check out Adventures in Mommydom!

Have a beautiful day! :)

7 comments:

  1. I loved these kinds of experiments in school - it really made chemistry my favorite subject :) This kit looks like a lot of fun.

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  2. We need to get this kit. You guys have such an awesome time with it.

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  3. I think we might try this when we do vegetables. The cabbage would work well with that.....
    Thanks for linking up!

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  4. We have not done any science experiments and your recent posts on these have really inspired me to start doing some. The reactions would be so much fun to anticipate, predict and watch. The science kit you mentioned looks excellent. I need to get my hands on some sort of kit like this, or a book to guide me.

    I love your crocheted cords. Open ended, simple "toys" are always the best and are used for decent periods of time. Sounds like you guys are having a ball with these.

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  5. It's nice that the cabbage came in powdered form to add to the water. We did this, but by boiling red cabbage - the smell was horrible. But, it did tie in nicely to Charlie and The Chocolate Factory's cabbage soup :)

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  6. I've got this on my list to try - thanks!

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