General Science: Iron nails in copper sulfate

While we're on the subject of chemical reactions here's a photo of an iron nail submerged in copper sulfate solution. As you can see, the color of the solution changes and in place of an iron nail you get a sandy solid that is copper. What actually happens is the iron displaces the copper and as the reaction goes to completion we are left with iron sulfate and copper.

General Science: It's a gas!

For our experiment this week, we did an oldie but a goodie...
what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar?

Having some experience with making volcanoes or otherwise messing around in the kitchen, the kids guessed correctly that the combination would produce, in their words, "AN EXPLOSION!!!" (Aren't you glad this happens at my house and not yours?!)

This week we took it one step further to show that the combination of baking soda and vinegar produces a gas that can put out a fire. Passing a lit candle over baking soda had no effect on the flame. Same deal for the vinegar, but when you combine the two, and you get your EXPLOSION (i.e. bubbles), passing the candle over extinguishes the flame. Why does this happen? Mixing baking soda and vinegar is a chemical reaction, and as such, produces something new, carbon dioxide. That's what the bubbles are, and they have the property of putting out a fire and that's why they carbon dioxide in an actual fire extinguishers. Cool, huh!?

General Science: Mixing Iron and Sulfur

This week we started learning some chemistry. Using a microscope and a magnet the kids explored the properties of 2 elements: sulfur and iron. Then they combined them and determined whether they had performed a physical change or a chemical change.

Here are some of the high points of their results:

iron: black, magnetic
sulfur: yellow, smelly, not magnetic
iron + sulfur: grayish yellow, smelly, BUT easily separated from each other with a magnet

Physical or chemical....you decide!