Real Chemistry Experiments: 40 Exciting STEAM Activities for Kids (Real Science)

The real question: Why would water flow upward?

Materials:

•Shallow metal or borosilicate glass pie pan

•Stove

•Water

•Food coloring

•Small glass jar

The steps:

1. With the help of an adult, place the pie pan onto the burner of a stove.

2. Pour about an inch of water into the pie pan and stir in 2 drops of food coloring.

3. Place the glass jar upside-down into the water in the pie pan, making sure the jar is stable.

4. Heat the water to near boiling on the stove and then turn off the burner.

5. Allow the water, pan, and glass jar to cool.

The Real Chemistry Behind How and Why: Air is a mixture of gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen. When you heat the water, some of the water molecules leave the liquid state and become a gas. Like all gases, water, oxygen, and nitrogen take up more space (volume) when hot. When we heated the water, we filled the glass jar with lots of gas molecules. As the water and gases cooled, they occupied less space, and some of the water condensed back to the liquid state. This created a vacuum that was filled by the water.

STEAM Connection: During the experiment, you are examining the volume of space that gas occupies. This is a math term, but mathematics is critical to understanding our scientific observations.

Now Try This!: Time how long it takes for the water to reach its highest level.