Elephant Toothpaste

This is another fun, visual, quick, easy experiment to do for all ages. The reaction you get creates a large amount of foam which overflows from your bottle and has the appearance of large toothpaste.

The experiment was 'super cool' for my 7 year old and 'fascinating' to my 11 year. As the kids get older they want to understand about why and how the reactions happen. But the 7 year just wants to watch and play. Either way its great fun for all.

To do this experiment you will need

* A 500 ml clean empty bottle
* A sachet of yeast or a tablespoon of yeast
* 3 tablespoons of warm water
* Washing up liquid
* Food colouring
* 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide** (see below where to buy this from)

* Small cup
* Safety goggles

I would do this experiment on a washable surface as it will over flow or better still we done it outside and washed it away with water.

Add the hydroge
n peroxide to the bottle. ( it can irritate your eyes so adult supervision will be required)
Then add the washing up liquid and a food drops of food colouring and swish the bottle around to mix the ingredients.

In the small cup mix the yeast with the warm water and mix it together for about 30 seconds.

Now for the fun part......add the small cup of yeast mixture to the bottle and watch the reaction create your elephants toothpaste.

The reaction creates an exothermic reaction so you might notice that the bottle gets warm. The kids did touch the solution to see what it felt like and to see if it was warm but washed their hands straight away. Please do this experiment with caution.


**Hydrogen peroxide 

I hunted high and low for the hydrogen peroxide as I was told you could get it in pharmacy's or hair salons, but only to find they stopped stocking it. I found it on amazon and ordered a 3% hydrogen peroxide.
I have been told the higher the percentage you use, the stronger the reaction, so my aim is to try it again with a 9% or a 12% to see what the reaction would be like.

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