Physical Science & Chemistry Projects

Question: Do Large or Small Bubbles Reach the Ground Faster?

Remember the last time you blew bubbles with a wand and bubble solution? Did you ever wonder as a whether the big bubbles hit the ground before the small bubbles? Or Visa Versa. This experiment will show you the answer to that question, and it will be a lot of fun!

Materials Needed:

Pencil

Foam cup

Wide, shallow bowl

Drinking straw

Bubble solution

Procedure:

1. Fill the bowl with bubble solution.
2. Push the pencil through the side of the foam cup, close to the bottom.
3. Remove the pencil.
4. Push the drinking straw through the opening so that it goes all the way inside the foam cup. This is the bubble pipe.
5. Flip the whole bubble pipe upside down and place it into the bubble solution.
6. Lift the bubble pipe up.
7. Blow into the straw softly to make bubble form on the top of the foam cup.
8. After a small bubble forms the shape, twist the foam cup quickly to discharge the bubble. In the meantime, hit the "Start" button on your stopwatch.
9. Using your stopwatch, time how long it takes for the bubble to hit the ground and record the results in a chart.
10. Now blow nine more small bubbles, and then record how long it takes for them to reach the ground.
11. Blow ten big bubbles, using the method in the previous steps. Record how long it takes for the bubbles to reach the ground in the second column of the chart.
12. Calculate the average time it took for each size of bubble to hit the ground by adding up every column and dividing the sum by 10. Look at the result to get your definitive answer.

Question: How Much Oxygen is in Our Air?

The air around you is made up of about 21 percent oxygen. This science experiment will show you how to discover the amount of oxygen for yourself by analyzing a chemical reaction between oxygen and rust. 

Materials Needed:

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

Package of fine steel wool (available at hardware stores)

Wide, shallow bowl or dish

Water

Food Coloring

Rubber Gloves

Glass jar

White vinegar

Four test tubes

Permanent marker

Procedure:

1. Fill the glass jar with equal parts Vinegar and Water
2. Put the package of steel wool in the glass jar, and leave it there overnight to soak. This will form iron oxide (rust) on the steel wool.
3. Pour an inch of water into the shallow bowl/dish. Add two drops of food coloring to the water.
4. Wearing gloves, pull a few strands of the steel wool from the rusted piece, and roll them together to make a tiny ball. Repeat this procedure two more times so you have three tiny balls. The balls should be slightly wider than the test tubes.
5. Use a pencil to push one ball all the way to the bottom of one of the test tubes, one ball three quarters of the way to the bottom of a second test tube, and one ball halfway to the bottom of a third test tube.
6. Make a paper ball the same size as the balls of steel wool, and push it to the bottom of a fourth tube.
7. Put the four tubes upside down in a row in the shallow dish of prepared water. Leave the tubes there for 24 hours.
8. Now mark the water level on each tube. Notice the difference in water level. The tube with the paper in it should not have risen. Now measure the length of each tube, pretend that the bottom of the steel ball is the highest point of the tube. Write both of these measurements into a table, like the one below.
9. Fill in the fourth column of the table by dividing the amount the water moved up by the length of the test tube. Remember that the water that rose into the test tube was actually replacing the oxygen that reacted with the rusty steel wool. The percentage for all three tubes should be the same, since it is the same as the amount of oxygen in the air, 21% give or take.

Question: Can You Measure Surface Tension of Water With a Penny?

Did you know that even though water is a liquid, it isn't always able to get into little cracks and crevices? So how do clothes go from caked with mud to clean? How can dishes go from greasy to glistening? With a few simple household items, you can find out!

Materials Needed:

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

Tap Water

Dish Soap

Drinking Glasses

Spoon

Dropping Pipet

Penny

Paper Towel

Lab Notebook

Project Procedure:

1. Create a table in your lab notebook like the one below.

2. Fill a glass with tap water

3. Fill a second glass with tap water. Add a few drops of dish soap and mix gently with a spoon

4. Use the bulb on the Pipet to suck some of the plain tap water into the Pipet

5. Place your penny on a flat level surface 

6. Use the Pipet to drop one drop of water onto the center of the penny

7. Continue slowly adding drops until the bubble of water on the penny bursts and spills over the edges.

8. Make sure and record the number of drops it took before the bubble burst

9. Dry off the penny and repeat steps 5-7 twice. Record the number of drops in the table each time

10. Repeat steps 4-7 with soapy water. Again, be sure to record your data in the table

11. Calculate the average drops it took for each of the two kinds of water

12. Based on the number of drops for each attempt, do you think adding soap increased or decreased the surface tension of the water?

Question: Do All Liquids Evaporate At The Same Rate?

Summary: The process of evaporation is when liquids are turned from their liquid form into their gas form. This usually happens over time and elements can effect the speed at which it occurs namely, heat, wind, movement. In this experiment we are going to evaluate the speed at which 4 different liquids evaporate to see if they're all the same, all different, or a mix of different and the same.

Materials Needed: 

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

4 Beakers with Measure Lines

Rubbing Alcohol

Water

Orange Juice

Nail Polish Remover

Pen and Paper for Notes

Project Procedure:

1. Pour 80ML of each liquid into its own beaker. Make sure to keep track of which liquid is in which beaker by either labeling the beakers, or placing markers near them.

2. Set the beakers in a dry location at room temperature.

3. Monitor the levels of the liquids for 1 week and note any differences.

4. Which liquid evaporated the most? Which liquid evaporated the least? Did they all evaporate the same amount?

Question: Can You Make a Hand Warmer?

Ever been outside on a winter day and had your hands get cold? Chances are, you have. Most camping and outdoor themed stores sell hand warmers that use a chemical reaction of some sort to produce a low temperature heat that can help warm up your frozen digits. But, wouldn't it be cool if you could make one of these hand warmers yourself? With this experiment you can! We'll show you what materials you will need, as well as how to perform the experiment! 

Materials Needed:

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

Jelly Crystals

Small cups (2)

Iron filings

Calcium chloride

Zipper-lock bag

Water

Project Procedure:

1. Fill a cup with 9 oz of water.
2. Add a generous scoop of Jelly Crystals to the water and wait until the crystals are fully grown. You’ll know that the crystals are done growing when there’s no more water in the cup.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of the full-grown Jelly Crystals to a zipper-lock bag.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of iron filings to the bag.
5. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of calcium chloride.
6. Carefully mix the contents of the zipper-lock bag by squishing the bag with your fingers. Once the contents are mixed, seal the bag.
7. Shake and squish the bag to mix the contents even more. Once mixed, feel the heat coming from the bag.

Question: Will adding glycerin or corn syrup help your homemade bubble solution work better?

Summary: Making your own bubble solution is fun, but sometimes the bubbles don't seem to work as well as the solutions you buy in the store. In this experiment you can test if adding corn syrup or glycerin to your bubble solution will make it just as good as the stuff you can buy. This experiment will have you blowing bubbles!

Looking for a kit with everything you need to complete this experiment? Click Here!

Materials Needed:

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

3 Glass Jars

Graduated Cylinder (for measuring liquid)

Distilled Water

Liquid Dishwashing Soap

Glycerin

Light Corn Syrup

Pipe Cleaners

Permanent Marker

Stopwatch

Project Procedure:

 1. Use the table below to make 3 separate bubble solutions in the Mason Jars, label these according to their ingredients. 

2. Now make a pipe cleaner wand for each solution. Pinch a pipe cleaner in the middle and give it a kink. Bend one half of the pipe cleaner into a circle and twist together at the center. Repeat with the other two pipe cleaners, and make sure that all 3 wands are approximately the same size.

3. Go outside and test your bubble solutions. Blow a bubble and catch it on your wand. Immediately start the stopwatch and time how long the bubble lasts. This will take some practice, so try it out on some extra solution before you start!

4. Repeat the experiment as many times as possible for each solution.

5. Record your data in a data table like this one:

Question: How Do Acids and Bases Affect Enzymes?

Summary: Enzymes are proteins that accelerate chemical reactions. They occur in the body in our digestive system, for example, to speed up the process of breaking down food into molecules that provide nutrients to the body. They are also using in many manufactured products, including cleaning products, cheese, beer, and biofuels. This experiment tests the effect of different levels of acids and bases on a common enzyme—yeast.

Materials Needed:

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

5, 70 mL Glass Test Tubes   

Plastic Test Tube Rack  

Masking Tape

Permanent Marker Pen

5 plastic drink stirrers

1 small glass

Distilled Water (1/2 Cup)

Active Dry Yeast

Baking Soda

Set of measuring teaspoons

Hydrogen Peroxide

Lemon Juice

Baking Soda

Ruler

Measuring Cup

pH test strips                    

Pen and Paper for Taking Notes

Project Procedure:

1. Label the test tubes as follows: #1-Control, #2-Low Acid, #3-High Acid, #4-Low Base, #5-High Base using the masking tape and permanent marker and place each test tube in the stand.
2. Place one of the drink stirrers in each of the test tubes. Do not move them from one test tube to another.
3. To the test tube marked #1-Control, add 2 teaspoons of distilled water, 1/8 cup (1 oz.) of hydrogen peroxide and 1/8 teaspoon yeast. Use the ruler to measure the highest point that bubbles reach and record that on your note paper.
4. To the test tube marked #2-Low Acid, add one teaspoon of distilled water, one teaspoon lemon juice, 1/8 cup hydrogen peroxide, and 1/8 teaspoon yeast. Stir. Use the ruler to measure the highest point that bubbles reach and record that on your note paper.
5. To the test tube marked #3-High Acid, add two teaspoons of lemon juice, 1/8 cup of hydrogen peroxide and 1/8 teaspoon yeast. Stir. Use the ruler to measure the highest point that bubbles reach and record that on your note paper.
6. Pour ½ C of distilled water into the small glass. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda, stirring to dissolve.
7. To the test tube marked #4-Low Base, add one teaspoon of the baking soda solution you created. one teaspoon of distilled water, 1/8 cup of hydrogen peroxide, and 1/8 teaspoon of yeast. Stir. Use the ruler to measure the highest point that bubbles reach and record that on your note paper.
8. To the test tube marked #5-High Base, add two teaspoons of the baking soda solution, 1/8 cup of hydrogen peroxide, and 1/8 teaspoon of yeast. Stir. Use the ruler to measure the highest point that bubbles reach and record that on your note paper.
9. Use the pH test strips to measure the pH of each test tube Record this information and and use it, along with the measurements of the height of the bubbles, to hypothesize about how acids and bases affect enzyme activity.

Question: Does Mint actually make things cooler?

Summary: Mint is an herb that is known for creating a light, cooling effect when used in gum, hard candy, breath fresheners and in teas. This experiment is designed to measure any cooling effect that mint has in liquids.

Looking for a kit with everything you need to complete this experiment? Click Here!

Materials Needed:

(Any of The Materials Highlighted in Blue are Clickable Links for Purchasing)

Package of Regular Mints (Mentos, Tic-Tacs, Altoids, or similar)

2 Glass Measuring Cups or Glass Flasks  

Scientific Thermometer    

Pen and Paper for Taking Notes

Project Procedure:

1. Carefully measure the same amount of water into the two measuring cups. Heat the both cups of water for 1-1/2 minutes in a microwave oven.
2. Use the thermometer to take the temperature of both cups of water. Record both on your note paper.
3. Place 5 mints in one cup of water and take the temperature again after 30 seconds. Was there a change? Record this temperature.
4. Wait 10 minutes, and add 5 more mints to the cup with the mints in it. Record the temperature of both cups of water again.
5. Wait 10 more minutes and add 5 more mints to the cup with the mints in it. Record the temperature of both cups of water.
6. Use the data you have recorded to answer the question, “Does Mint actually make things cooler?”