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Magic Potions

Discover the science behind all those magic potions.

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Plan

  • What ingredients do you need for your potions?  
  • Is there any safety equipment required?  

Do

Colour Changing Potion  

  • 500ml Water 
  • 6g of Sodium Hydroxide 
  • 9g of Sucrose 
  • While stirring, add a little potassium permanganate in water 
  • The solution should go through a series of colour changes.  

 

Rainbow potions  

  • Fill seven glasses with a small amount of red cabbage juice.  
  • Add a drop of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup- what colour does it change to?  
  • Do it again with Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda), what colour does it change to now?  
  • Experiment with more drops, can you make a rainbow?  

 

Smoky Bubbles 

  • While running warm water into a sink, add some dry ice.  
  • Add a squirt of dish detergent and some food colouring.  
  • Continue to run water- the dry ice should produce coloured bubbles that are filled with smoke that burst overflowing the sink.  
  • Make sure to run warm water until all the dry ice is dissolved or it can freeze the pipes

Review

  • What did you learn about the potions?  
  • What other experiments could you try?  

Materials

  • Disposable gloves 
  • Safety glasses 
  • Water  
  • Sodium Hydroxide 
  • Sucrose 
  • Potassium Permanganate 
  • Red cabbage juice  
  • Lemon juice/ vinegar 
  • Baking Soda  
  • Dry Ice
  • Oven mitts   
  • Dish Detergent  
  • Food Colouring  

Keep it Simple

Try making a snow volcano/ volcano  

Take it Further

Take it a step further with Elephant Toothpaste