S.T.E.A.M. TeamTuesdaysFizzing Ice ExperimentActivity Guide

February 2021

MATERIALS

Plastic bin or containerIce, crushed or cubes(enough to fill container)Baking soda, 1-2 boxesWhite vinegar, 1 bottleBowlLiquid dish soap Pipette or eye dropperFood colouring, optionalTimer, optional

THE

FIZZ

ING

ICE

EXPE

RIM

ENT

Learn about theformation of carbonic

acid with this icy twist ona classic baking soda

and vinegar experiment.

First, you may know that ice is water that hasbeen frozen. Whether its ice cubes in yourfreezer, an icicle hanging outside your window, alocal ice skating rink, icebergs in the Arcticocean, or a massive glacier up in the mountains,ice is formed in virtually the same way, by waterundergoing a change in state. Water is a liquidstate, and ice is a solid state. Ice begins to formwhen water is exposed to temperatures belowfreezing, or below 0 degrees Celsius.

BEFORE WE BEGIN: How doesice form?

Freezing rain,snowflakes, and hailare all examples ofweather conditionsmade from ice - wewill come back toexactly how aftertoday's experiment!

Carbonic acid can be created by combiningbaking soda + vinegar; specifically, the sodiumbicarbonate (the scientific name for bakingsoda) reacts with the acid in the vinegar(vinegar is made of salt, water & acetic acid) toform carbonic acid. Have you ever seen anotherbaking soda and vinegar experiment, such as ahomemade volcano? This is the same idea;however, the coldness of the ice slows downthis chemical reaction, making it fizz for longer.

Carbonic acid is going to beresponsible for creating ourchemical reaction on the icetoday. What is carbonicacid? It is an unstablechemical, meaning that itfalls apart, resulting in a fizzas it releases carbon dioxide(gas) and water (liquid).

And, what is carbonic acid?

First, let’s see how baking soda and vinegarreact to each other on their own, without ice ordish soap added. You can try this in anothercontainer or bowl, or create the reaction right inyour sink. Did you know this can help to keepyour drains clean?!

Sprinkle a good amount of baking soda nearthe drain, then pour a splash of vinegar on top.You will instantly see and hear a fizzing.Continue adding vinegar a bit at a time until allthe baking soda has washed down, then finishby rinsing the sink with hot water.

PART 1: TEST OUT THE BAKINGSODA + VINEGAR REACTION

Now, let’s set up to try the slowed-down versionof this carbonic acid reaction. If you do notalready have ice ready to go, be sure to freezesome water in ice cubes trays the night beforeyou want to try this experiment (or, as I did, usea combination of crushed ice and ice cubes).Then, take the container, bin, or bowl you willbe using, and fill it with ice.

PART 2: PREPARE THE BIN OF ICE

You want to cover the bottom of the container with ice,but I recommend adding a few layers for best results.

Overtop of the ice, shake on a layer of bakingsoda so that it thoroughly covers it. The morebaking soda that the vinegar is able to comeinto contact with, the better the reaction will be.

Then, drizzle on some dish soap; the purposeof the dish soap (along with the ice) is to helpprolong the reaction by making the carbondioxide take longer to dissipate. I used bluedish soap as can be seen on the next page.

You can optionally add a few dots of blue foodcolouring, or any colour you would like!

Pour some vinegar into a bowl. I used aboutone cup of vinegar. Use a pipette or some kindof dropper, dip it into the vinegar, and practicesqueezing the top to suck up some of thevinegar. Beginning this experiment with usingthe dropper is a great way to see theexperiment happen on a smaller scale. Now, we are ready to begin!

PART 3: PREPARE THE VINEGAR

A little at a time, use the dropper to drizzlevinegar onto the baking soda, dish soap, andice until you start to see it fizz and foam. If youwould like to, have others help you to usemultiple droppers at a time.

PART 4: REACTION TIME!BAKING SODA + VINEGAR ON ICE

You may see some large bubbles like these ones popup. As we learned, this is the release of carbon dioxide

gas (and water) from the carbonic acid reaction.

After experimenting with this for awhile, create alarger reaction by pouring the remainder of thevinegar in the bowl (or the bottle) straight on topof the mixture so that it really foams up.

This is also where you can use a timer to timehow long the carbonic acid reaction lasts on theice (compared to how quickly it dissipates usingbaking soda and vinegar on their own).

You will be able to tell the reaction has finished when theice starts peaking through again, it stops fizzing, andyou're mostly left with ice, water, and food colouring.

And now… it’s remix time! Here is anotherversion of this experiment to try:

Fizzing Snowballs: In the second episode ofthis series we made sparkly snow doughusing two ingredients - frozen baking sodaand water. You could take some of thissnow, add food colouring if you wish, form itinto snow balls, place them in a container,and then try dripping vinegar on to thesnow balls in the same manner as we didtoday to watch them fizz up.

REMIX THIS ACTIVITY

What are the differences between thesevarious icy weather conditions: snow, hail,freezing rain, and sleet?

Snowflakes are formed in the clouds by icecrystals sticking together when it is cold enoughfor water droplets to freeze into ice crystals.

Hail is formed in a similar way, but typicallyduring storms when it is quite windy; snowflakesbegin to fall but are blown back up towards theclouds where multiple layers of water freeze ontop of each other – this is why hail can becomethe size of a golf ball, depending on how manytimes it has travelled back upwards!

REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS

Finally, both freezing rain and sleet aresomewhere in between rain and snow.

Freezing rain begins to fall as snowflakes, meltsinto raindrops as it travels through warmer air,and then freezes instantly upon contact withthe ground (when the temperature of theground is below freezing).

Sleet occurs when snowflakes are melted intoraindrops in a small patch of warm air, but thenfreeze again in colder air before hitting theground.

Today we learned about both the formation ofice as well as carbonic acid, then watched theresults of our very own chemical reactionusing some common kitchen ingredients –baking soda, vinegar, dish soap, and ice!

I hope you had an enjoyable time and learnedsomething new in the last four weeks of“Hibernation, Adaptation, and Winter Weather”activities. I know I did! That’s a wrap for now,but I will see you again soon. Take care,S.T.E.A.M. Team!

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