Aim: I want to make a volcano.
Research: Video of how to make a volcano.
Equipment:
Volcano:
- newspaper
- bottle
- ice cream lid (or any square hard paper)
- flour
- water
- container
Chemical to erupt the volcano:
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Potassium Permanganate
Instruction:
Volcano
- Place the bottle in the middle of the container lid then glue it.
- Prepare the glue. In the container put some flour and add a bit of water it should be sticky but not watery at the same time.
- Crumple some paper.
- Dip the crumpled paper into the glue mixture.
- Put it around the bottle and put some glue on it.
- Wait for it to dry, and put a layer on it.
- Put like 5-8 layers. Let it dry.
- Paint it with acrylics.
- Paint some lava effect, and wait for it to dry.
Volcano Eruption:
- Put the Potassium Permanganate in the bottle.
- Then put the Hydrogen Peroxide.
Discussion: Potassium Permanganate interacts with the hydrogen peroxide when added, creating tiny “pockets” of oxygen. The reaction becomes more intense due to these pockets of oxygen. Catalese, an enzyme found in yeast, converts hydrogen peroxide (H202) into oxygen gas and water. A sizable frothy solution squirts out of the top of the bottle after the soap traps the oxygen gas. The “elephant toothpaste” or hydrogen peroxide volcano serves as an example of how a catalyst functions in chemistry. Water and oxygen are the products that hydrogen peroxide naturally prefers to decompose into (2H2O2 — 2H2O + O2 = a disproportion reaction in which the oxygen undergone oxidation and reduction simultaneously. This is where our catalyst enters the picture because typically this process moves too slowly to be immidiately noticed.