Scientastic sherbet is absolutely delicious...
...and an awesome way to get thinking about chemical reactions...
What Do I Need?
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Citric acid
- Icing sugar
- Cup
- Lollipop stick
How Do I Do It?
STEP1 - Add a pea-sized amount of bicarbonate of soda to your cup.
WARNING: This is an edible experiment but, of course, you have to make sure that you’re able to eat all of the ingredients in your sweets.
STEP2 - Add around half a lollipop stick of citric acid to your cup.
STEP3 - Add 3 sticks of icing sugar to your cup.
STEP4 - Make absolutely sure to mix it all together.
STEP5 - Have a taste! Can you feel those bubbles?
STEP6 - If you want to see exactly what’s happening in your mouth then make yourself another cup of Scientific Sherbet and add some water and watch it bubble.
What’s Going On?
Did your sherbet taste delicious? I'm pretty sure that it did but the real question is how does it work? What's causing all those tasty bubbles to start fizzing away inside your mouth?
Those bubbles being formed in your mouth are bubbles of carbon dioxide.
This experiment is an edible example of the classic ‘acid +base’ reaction. Our citric acid is our acid and our bicarbonate of soda is the alkali (or base).
When the saliva in your mouth helps them to mix together we get a chemical reaction that creates the bubbles of carbon dioxide that you can taste in your mouth. So not only is making sherbet tasty but it's also a real experiment too!
More Fun Please! - Experiment Like A Real Scientist!
- What else could you try?
- As we’re eating it we need to make sure than we only use food!
- Could you try lemon juice?
- What are the perfect proportions of each of the ingredients to make the most fizz and to make the best taste?
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