ERUPTING APPLE SCIENCE

Equipment:

apple baking soda vinegar container to catch the fizz knife to carve out hole (for adults to do!)

Method:

1. Take the core out of the apple 2. Fill the apple with baking soda. 3. Place apple in the middle of a container. 4. Pour the vinegar straight into the apple5. Observe what happens!6. Have a chat about what is happening.. for example…

The fizzy bubbling action is actually a reaction from the two materials (baking soda and vinegar) mixing.

You can explain that a gas is released called carbon dioxide.

The adult bit –

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate: each molecule of baking soda contains a sodium atom, a hydrogen atom, an oxygen atom, and a carbon dioxide molecule.

Vinegar contains acetic acid, each molecule of which contains a hydrogen atom, and an acetate ion.

When combined, the hydrogen atom in the acetic acid meets up with the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the baking soda to form a molecule of water, while the acetate ion grabs onto the sodium atom and forms a salt, sodium acetate. The carbon dioxide molecule, free of its other chemical bonds, can now escape, and bubbles forth as a gas.