100 Days of Science- #12 Why You Can Snuff Out a Candle with Baking Soda and Vinegar.

My boys and I were intrigued when we read that the reaction between baking soda and vinegar can be used to put out a candle.

They love any science project working with baking soda and vinegar so we just had to try the experiment for ourselves!

We took out:
 a small bowl with a flat bottom
baking soda
vinegar
tablespoon measure
2 tealight candles
 lighter.

First we measured 3 tablespoons of baking soda into our bowl and tapped the bowl on the table to make sure it was evenly distributed.

Next we added our two tealights and light them using our lighter.

We let our candles burn for a minute or two to make sure the flame had really taken. 

Then we slowly poured 2 Tablespoons of vinegar into the bowl; making sure NOT to drop the vinegar onto the candles or flames but making sure to have it land in the baking soda.  Almost immediately the chemical reaction between the baking soda and the vinegar put out the flame.

We assumed that the bubbles popping around the candles blew out the flame with the air that was inside the bubbles so we decided to try and re-create the experiment with a taller candle... this candle was equal in height to our bowl.

We hypothesized that this might not work with a larger candle.  The boys thought we might need to increase how much baking soda and vinegar we used.

We decided to start out just using the  3 Tablespoons of baking soda like our original experiment.

We added our 2 Tablespoons of vinegar and while it took a moment or two longer the candle flame flickered and died right out.

So we turned to our book to figure out HOW this worked!

Candles need oxygen to burn; which we knew.

When we added the vinegar to the baking soda the reaction of the two chemicals created carbon dioxide bubbles and since carbon dioxide is heavier/ denser than oxygen it sinks down into our bowl below the oxygen.  As the carbon dioxide sinks it pushes the oxygen out and the candle is snuffed out.

We then talked about the different types of fire and the different types of materials used to put them out.

It was such a fun and informative science lesson!

Others in this series:

1. Bernoulli's Principle
2. Ecotarium Trip 
3. Air Molecule Experiment
4. Kitchen Science
5. Corn Maze Field Trip 
6. Birds of Florida 
7. Making Static Music
8. Un-Make It Monday
9. Wind Tunnel Experiment
10. Biomes Field Trip
11. Disappearing Coin Trip

13.  Making Plastic from Milk

14.  Pencil in the Rice Friction Experiment

15 & 16.  Two Experiments using SNOW

17.  Making an Iceberg 

18.  Making an Egg Float

19.  Looking at Microscopic Organisms 

20.  Eco Plant pals

21&22.  Two Experiments with Cotton Candy

23. Springfield Science Museum Trip

24.  Teaching Children the Signs of Spring

25.  Color Changing Slime

26.  Growing Tickle Me Plants

27.  Learning About Soil Sampling

28.  Making Super Bouncy Balls 

29. Exploring the New England Shoreline

30.  Color Changing Flower Experiment 

31.  Roger Williams Zoo Trip

32.  Edible Silly Putty 

33.  Raising Tadpoles

34. More Microscope Fun

35. Making Homemade Ice Cream

36.  Observing Plants Breathe 

37.  Trip to Save the Bay Exploration Center and Aquarium

38. Making Fresh Peach Preserves 

39.  Making Solar S'mores

40.  Growing a Crystal Garden

41 & 42.  Jolly Rancher Candy Apples and Lollipops

43.  Volcanic Lemons 

44.  Oozing Pumpkins 

45.  Growing a Germ Farm

46.  Looking at the Germ Farm Under a Microscope

47 & 48.  Building Model Molecules Two Ways 

49.  Kitchen Chemistry Experiments 

50.  Fall Leaf Chromatography 

51.  Color Changing Experiments with Iodine

52.  Learning About Birds in Winter

53. Iodine and Starch Experiment
54. Flouride and Calcium Experiment
55. Botanical Gardens in Winter
56.  Making Cell Models
57. Which Has More Water; Ice or Snow?
58. Exploding Snow and Water Baggies
59.  Exploring Minerals
60. Visiting the Hartford Science Museum
61-63. 3 STEM Bridge Challenges
64. Making Models of the Earth
65. Plate Techtonics with Graham Crackers
66.  Homemade Lava Lamp
67.  Science Movies We're Watching
68. Index Card Towers
69.  Botany at the Botanical Gardens
70. Best Board Games for Science 
71. Homemade Frozen Yogurt Pops
72.  Starburst Rock Cycle 
73. & 74. Sinking a Marshmallow
75. Jumping Conversation Hearts 
76-78. Building a Paper Airplane 3 Ways 
79. Learning About Hummingbirds 
80.  Planting an Herb Garden 
81. Mushroom Spores 
82. - 84.  Penny Saturation Experiments 
85. Sink or Float?
86. Disappearing Ink 
87. Sedment Layer Jars
88. Tie Dye Science 
89-91. DNA Experiments 
92.  Homemade Butter 
93. Floating Marker Art 
94. & 95. Oil Spills & Water Filtration 
96.- 98. Making Rock Candy & Rock Candy Experiments 
99. Rocket Science 

100. Permaculture Garden Tour