Exploring Fun Science with the Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano Experiment

Concepts:

• Simple Concept: Baking soda and vinegar combine to make a fun chemical reaction: fizz and bubbles! That’s why it looks like an exploding volcano!

• Advanced Concept: Baking soda is a special type of “ingredient” called a base, and vinegar is another special type of “ingredient” called an acid. When a base and acid are combined, they produce a gas called carbon dioxide, which forms fizz and bubbles!

Materials:

• Clay Volcano or Container

• 2-3 Tablespoons of Baking Soda

• 1/2 Cup of Vinegar

• Food Coloring (optional)

Instructions:

• Make sure you buy or build a clay volcano that is big enough for your baking soda and vinegar. If you don’t have a volcano, you can still use a glass or another type of container to show the chemical reaction!

• Add baking soda to the volcano.

• Add a couple drops of food coloring to make it look like lava.

• Pour the vinegar over the baking soda.

• Watch the fizz and bubbles form!