Experiments with KVRR Meteorologist Scott Sincoff: Foamy Fountain Mess

Fun, Easy, Kid-Friendly Science Experiments

This week’s science experiment is called, “Foamy Fountain Mess.”

Here’s what you need to complete the experiment:

• 8 drops of your favorite food coloring
• 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap
• 3 tablespoons of warm water
• 1 packet of yeast
• 1/2 cup of 20-volume hydrogen peroxide
• Clean and empty soda bottle
• Tray to put underneath the soda bottle

Here’s how you complete the experiment:

• Put a clean and empty soda bottle in a tray to catch the mess.
• Then you put 8 drops of your favorite food coloring combined with a tablespoon of liquid dish soap.
• In a separate cup, mix together three tablespoons of warm water with a packet of yeast and stir for about 30 seconds.
• Then you put the yeast combination into the bottle.
• Now the mess happens… add about a half–cup of 20–volume hydrogen peroxide that you can get at a pharmacy or beauty supply shop…and watch the foam explode.

It happens because the foam bubbles are full of oxygen, but the yeast helps take away the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide. And since it happens so fast, it created not just foam, but heat. That’s called an exothermic reaction.