With this experiment to make a baking powder volcano you bring an erupting volcano into your own four walls. We explain the baking powder volcano experiment step by step and also the chemistry that makes it happen, so have some educational fun!
Baking powder volcano materials:
- Plate
- scissors
- 2 glasses
- Aluminum foil and adhesive tape
- 3 packets of baking soda
- 1-2 packets of red food coloring
- dish soap
- half a glass of vinegar
- half a glass of water
- a large, waterproof pad (eg a tray)
Experiment:
- Stick one of the two glasses centered on the plate with a roll of adhesive tape.
- Lay two sheets of aluminum foil over it so that the plate and glass are covered. Stick the edges of the foil to the bottom of the plate.
- Cuts – as seen in the picture – into the center of the glass opening with the scissors a small hole in the aluminum foil. Cut a cross from there, but only until you reach the inner edge of the glass.
- Bend the four corners of the aluminum foil inwards and glue them to the inner edge of the glass.
- Put the baking soda in the volcano crater. In the second jar, mix water and vinegar with food coloring until the liquid turns dark red. Then add a dash of detergent.
Important : Put your baking powder volcano on a waterproof surface at the latest, otherwise lava will run onto the table or the floor! Tilts the red mixture in the aluminum foil crater – already breaks your volcano.
The chemistry behind the eruption
What happens chemically when the baking powder volcano erupts is that the soda contained in the baking soda reacts with the acid of the vinegar and forms the gas carbon dioxide (CO2). This sparkling gas expands strongly. In addition, it brings the detergent for foaming. The mixed lava quickly becomes too tight in the volcano crater glass, and so it swells out at the top.
The baking powder volcano is similar to a real volcano. The melting rock inside the earth expands and needs more space. So it shoots up and makes its way into the open.
