100 Days of Science #43; Volcanic Lemons

My boys are a sucker for any experiments that involve volcanoes!  

They never tire of experiments that use baking soda and vinegar for these mini explosions so I was thrilled to find that with volcanic lemons the lemon juice reacts with the baking soda for a very minor twist.  



First we rubbed our lemons across the table pressing down to release the juices.  We talked about HOW the lemon juice is acidic just like the vinegar and we speculated which one would work better.  

We cut the lemons in half (and I cut just a bit off the bottom so they'd sit flat on our plates.  


Next we used a Popsicle stick to poke holes in the flesh and make the juices rise to the top.


When it looked nice and juicy we added just a few drops of liquid watercolors to our lemons (food coloring would have worked great too but when I realized we were out we improvised!).  We drizzled a drop of dish soap on top (it makes the bubbles easier to see).


Then sprinkled on some baking soda..


And sat back to watch the results.



As the bubbling began dying down we poked our lemon a few more times, added some more baking soda and even a bit of jarred lemon juice to keep the "explosions" going.





They had a lot of fun!

It was a great introduction to our chemistry unit too. This acid/base reaction creates carbon dioxide as it works together to become a neutral.


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
12. Snuffing out a Candle With Baking Soda
13. Making Plastic from Milk
14. Friction Experiment 
15. & 16. Snow Experiments
17. Making an Iceberg
18. Floating Eggs
19. Pond Water Under a Microscope 
20. Planting Eco Plant Pals
21. & 22. Cotton Candy Experiments
23. Springfield Science Museum Trip
24. Signs of Spring
25. Color Changing Slime
26. Growing Our Own Tickle Plants
27. Learning About Soil Sampling
28. Making Bouncy Balls
29. Exploring the Shoreline
30. Color Changing Flowers
31. Roger Williams Zoo Trip
32. Edible Silly Putty 
33. Raising Tadpoles
34. More Microscope Fun 
35.  Homemade Ice Cream
36. How Plants Breathe Experiment 
37. Save The Bay Exploration Center Trip
38. Making Fresh Peach Preserves 
39. Making Solar S'mores
40. Growing a Crystal Garden
41. & 42. Making Jolly Rancher Candy Apples & Lollipops 

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