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Have a blast with these fun and safe ways to create an explosion at home
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To call it an experiment would be incorrect (you are doing a demonstration!) but no matter what you call it, an explosion is a great way to have fun with science. Whether you're looking for a science fair project or you want to just have some fun and use your brain, we'll walk you through 4 cool ways to create a DIY explosion.
How to Create an Explosion
- Put some baking soda in a cup and slowly pour distilled white vinegar into it for a classic explosion.
- Fill a bottle 1/4 full with hydrogen peroxide, then add a squirt of dish soap, some food coloring, and a mixture of yeast and water for a vibrant explosion!
- Cut up a bar of Ivory soap, then microwave it for 90 seconds for a slow and riveting bubbly blast.
- Drop a Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke for a foamy soda geyser.
Steps
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Fill a small container with a spoonful of baking soda. Any plastic or paper container will work for this. Set your container down with a newspaper or towel underneath, and add 1-2 teaspoons (5-10 g) of baking soda to the empty container. [1] X Research source- The more baking soda you use, the more powerful the reaction will be.
- This is the classic volcano experiment that many people are familiar with. If you want to make a volcano, set a paper cup down and use modeling clay to form the body of the volcano around the cup.
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Pour distilled white vinegar slowly into the container. Put on some rubber gloves and protective eyewear . Use a funnel or watering can to slowly pour distilled white vinegar into the container. The baking soda and vinegar reaction takes a few seconds to occur, so don’t pour the vinegar out all at once! [2] X Research source- If you pour too quickly, the reaction will cause a serious mess.
- White vinegar can be a skin irritant, so try to avoid getting wet as your explosion goes off.
- Baking soda and vinegar react because vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base. The combination creates an explosion burst of carbonation that causes the vinegar to bubble up and expand.
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Set out all of your supplies. Get some 30% hydrogen peroxide , dish soap , food coloring , dried yeast , water, a funnel, and an empty 2 liter (0.5 US gal) soda bottle. [3] X Research source- Set up your demonstration in an area that will be easy to clean up.
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Pour some hydrogen peroxide into the empty soda bottle. Hydrogen peroxide is a skin irritant, so throw on some rubber gloves and protective eyewear . Pour a little bit of hydrogen peroxide into your empty container so that you fill the bottom 1/4 of the bottle. [4] X Research source- Use a funnel and get help from an adult if you’re worried about making a mess.
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Squirt a little dish soap into the bottle. Pour 1–2 tablespoons (15–30 mL) of liquid dish soap into the soda bottle. Any kind of dish soap will work. [5] X Research source -
Add some food coloring to make the explosion vibrant. This is optional, but whatever color you add will look really neat once the explosion goes off! Add a healthy squirt of food coloring if you want your explosion to have a color. You can use any color you like. [6] X Research source -
Mix the water and yeast together. Mix 1 tablespoon (8.5 g) of dried yeast with 3 tablespoons (44.4 ml) of water in a separate, small bowl. [7] X Research source -
Pour the watery yeast into the soda bottle. Pour it in quickly and stand back! The reaction will cause the peroxide, yeast, and soap to expand and shoot out the top of the bottle. [8] X Research source- The yeast and the hydrogen peroxide will combine to make an explosion of foam. The dish soap helps capture the oxygen to enable the explosion to take place. Be careful, this reaction is exothermic, which means it creates heat. [9] X Research source
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Get a bar of Ivory soap. Choose a fresh, unused bar of unscented Ivory soap . The brand is important, so don’t try to swap the Ivory out for some other brand. [10] X Research source- Unscented Ivory soap is unique because it’s almost entirely pure soap (in the sense that it’s just raw fat and oil, which is actually what soap is!). Because it’s so pure, the air pockets inside of the soap will expand when you heat it.
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Cut up the soap into 6 pieces. Have a parent help you if you aren’t able to handle a knife. Put the soap on a cutting board and cut it into about 6 equal-sized pieces. Just use a butter knife and cut it into 6 pieces. [11] X Research source -
Microwave the pieces for 90 seconds. Put the pieces of soap onto a plate or a piece of wax paper. Set the plate in your microwave and set it for 1.5 minutes. [12] X Research source- Depending on the strength of your microwave, you may need to heat it for a little longer (or a little shorter) to get it this to work.
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Watch your soap explode as it heats up. Keep your eyes on the soap as it is heated. Watch how it expands to an enormous size. [13] X Research source- Depending on how long you heat the soap, it will eventually “pop.” If you want to make cleanup easy, open the microwave door before it looks like the soap is going to burst.
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Wait until the soap cools to clean it up. Give the soap 5-10 minutes to cool down. Then, use a damp rag to scoop the soap into a trash bag and clean the microwave. [14] X Research source- Clean the microwave with dish soap and water to remove any soap residue.
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Get a large Diet Coke or A&W root beer. Get a large 2 liter (0.5 US gal) bottle of Diet Coke or Diet A&W root beer . [15] X Trustworthy Source American Chemical Society Scientific society for those involved with chemistry and publisher of several leading peer-reviewed scientific journals Go to source- This is probably the messiest way to make an explosion, so be sure to work in an area that is easy to clean up! If possible, do this outside.
- You can actually do this experiment with any soda, but the aspartame levels in Diet Coke and Diet A&W Root Beer are very high. Aspartame is a key ingredient in the explosion, so your results may be lacking if you choose a soda other than Diet Coke or A&W. The lack of sugar also makes cleanup a lot less sticky! [16] X Research source
- Use a brand-new soda. A flat soda will make a less impressive explosion.
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Grab an original Mentos or rock salt. The original Mentos is the classic ingredient, but it’s 100% okay to use rock salt if you don’t feel like going candy shopping. [17] X Research source -
Open the soda and drop a Mentos in to make it explode. Open the soda bottle and drop in the Mentos or rock salt. Immediately get out of the way, though! A giant geyser of soda will explode up into the air. Be careful or you'll end up taking a shower in soda. [18] X Trustworthy Source American Chemical Society Scientific society for those involved with chemistry and publisher of several leading peer-reviewed scientific journals Go to source
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Expert Q&A
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QuestionWhere can I buy ammonium dichromate?Bess Ruff is a Geography PhD student at Florida State University. She received her MA in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016. She has conducted survey work for marine spatial planning projects in the Caribbean and provided research support as a graduate fellow for the Sustainable Fisheries Group.A local chemical supply company should sell it. You can also find it online if there isn't a chemical supply company near you.
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QuestionHow do I make a very large explosion?Community AnswerIf you mix a little bit of sodium hydroxide, drain cleaner, with aluminium foil in a large bottle, it will create a gas. If you capture the gas in a balloon, and put it next to a fire, it will create a massive fiery explosion which will easily shake your house if you are doing it in your backyard.
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QuestionWhere do I get liquid nitrogen?Community AnswerYou can buy it online. The most popular ones are from Williams Medical Supplies.
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Warnings
- Do not use dry ice to create a pressurized explosion. This is extremely dangerous and it’s actually a felony to even attempt this in most states. [19] X Research source Do not attempt to use liquid nitrogen, either. This is equally dangerous and illegal. [20] X Research sourceThanks
- Schools used to perform the volcano experiment with ammonium dichromate (also known as chromic acid or diammonium salt), but this is no longer done for a reason. Ammonium dichromate is a poisonous gas and is now known to be a carcinogen. [21] X Research sourceThanks
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Things You’ll Need
Baking Soda & Vinegar
Hydrogen Peroxide
Ivory Soap
Diet Coke and Mentos
References
- ↑ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-volcano/
- ↑ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-volcano/
- ↑ https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/hydrogen-peroxide-and-yeast/
- ↑ https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/hydrogen-peroxide-and-yeast/
- ↑ https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/hydrogen-peroxide-and-yeast/
- ↑ https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/hydrogen-peroxide-and-yeast/
- ↑ https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/hydrogen-peroxide-and-yeast/
- ↑ https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/hydrogen-peroxide-and-yeast/
- ↑ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-an-exothermic-rea/
- ↑ https://chemistrycachet.com/uses-of-ivory-soap/
- ↑ https://happyhooligans.ca/ivory-soap-microwave-experiment/
- ↑ https://happyhooligans.ca/ivory-soap-microwave-experiment/
- ↑ https://happyhooligans.ca/ivory-soap-microwave-experiment/
- ↑ https://happyhooligans.ca/ivory-soap-microwave-experiment/
- ↑ https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/experiments/mentos-diet-coke.html
- ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/does-mentos-trick-work-with-regular-coke-604155
- ↑ https://www.auburn.edu/academic/cosam/departments/chemistry/outreach/MSP_AU_web/documents/AJP_2008_diet_coke_mentos_Coffey.pdf
- ↑ https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/adventures-in-chemistry/experiments/mentos-diet-coke.html
- ↑ https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2010/Bills/HB2271_.HTM
- ↑ https://www.mtu.edu/physics/research/safety/pdfs/liquid-nitrogen-safety.pdf
- ↑ https://www.nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0097.pdf
About This Article
Article Summary
X
To make an explosion, one fun way is to place a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke in an open space and drop Mentos or rock salt into the bottle. Then, stand back and watch the soda shoot into the sky. Another easy method is to fill a plastic bottle halfway with warm water, drop a few chunks of dry ice in and cap the bottle. However, you should only do this experiment if you’re an adult, since the explosion can be dangerous for anyone nearby. You should also make sure the bottle is pointing upwards to avoid hitting anyone. In addition to pointing the bottle upwards, it's important to keep everyone well away from the explosion to keep them safe. For more tips from our Science co-author, including how to make an explosion using liquid nitrogen, read on!
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