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Good Chemistry | Experiments at Oh Wow! delight children and adults
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
If you have been dismayed by the cold and blustery conditions of the past few days and yearn for spring, a little time experimenting with and understanding more about dry ice might make this winter’s most-frigid weather seem downright balmy.
“You can’t really contain the gas,” Mr. Ralf told a group of children about carbon dioxide, which, in its solid state, is dry ice that freezes at minus 110 degrees. “The gas really is useful in our lives.”
Mr. Ralf is a facilitator and educator at OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology, 11 W. Federal St., downtown. Saturday, he conducted a series of experiments for kids and adults during a two-hour Discover IT Chemistry program there.
Injecting plenty of humor into a scientific experiment called “Smoke Bubbles,” he took the kids through the chemical reactions of various combinations of dry ice, water, vinegar, food coloring and dish soap. In one demonstration, he added a small piece of dry ice to water and soap in a beaker, which caused large amounts of bubbles to overflow and resemble a small volcanic eruption.
He also attached a balloon to the top of a large plastic soda bottle and showed how the balloon reacts when the gas is allowed to escape and filled a sandwich bag with water and dry ice, which caused the bag to puff out.
“What’s happening? The gas is leaking out,” he said about the balloon demonstration.
Earlier, he sealed a film canister he had filled with dry ice and water, which exploded because the gas expanded but had no way to seep out, he noted.
“I learned that when you put a balloon on top [of a plastic bottle], and add vinegar and baking soda in the bottle, the gas goes up and makes the balloon blow up,” said 9-year-old Emily Sewell of Southington, a LaBrae Elementary School fourth-grader.
Her 8-year-old brother, Guy Sewell, said he appreciated learning more about the science behind the experiments. Jeremy added that he enjoys playing video games more than learning about science, but the chemistry demonstrations deepened his appreciation for that subject.
Emily and Guy came with their father, Jeremy Sewell.
Mr. Ralf also pressed a large spoon, a penny and a quarter against a chunk of dry ice to show how heat from the metal caused the ice to quickly turn to gas, which in turn placed pressure on the spoon and coins, causing them to quivered rapidly and emit a squeaking sound.
In another experiment called “Rainbow Milk,” Sorina Fatu, OH WOW!’s program specialist, used an electronic magnifier and a computer screen to show 8-year-old Mya Hartman and other children how colors can “burst” when milk, food coloring, dish soap, vinegar and alcohol are mixed.
Accompanying Mya was her grandmother, Donna Fisher of Austintown.
The soap weakens the chemical bonds in the milk’s fats and proteins. Consequently, the fat molecules – and the food coloring – move in many directions as the soap molecules join them, Fatu explained.
“I want them to see how different household chemicals react with proteins and fat in milk,” she said.
Even though most children likely won’t take chemistry until they reach high school, now is the time to instill in them a greater interest in and love for science, said Suzanne Barbati, the center’s executive director.
In addition, young people can learn such concepts at home with common household items and a little ingenuity, Barbati said, adding that OH WOW! is trying to do its part to deepen kids’ appreciation of science.
“We’re working hard to offer new experiments each week,” Barbati said. “That’s our focus for 2016.”