", "Elephant Toothpaste: A Hydrogen Peroxide Chemistry Experiment", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elephant%27s_toothpaste&oldid=1003569025, Pages that use a deprecated format of the chem tags, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 January 2021, at 16:37. Because it is often hard for anyone but a che… Constants: The constants in my experiment are the catalyst (dry active yeast), the temperature (room temperature and warm water for catalyst activation), setting (same sink), amount of hydrogen … Place your plastic bottle on the tray or tub so that it is easy to clean up all the foam. Make it with supplies you have at home, and easy to clean. Yeast is an organism that contains a special chemical called catalase that can act as a catalyst to help break down hydrogen peroxide. Because it requires only a small number of ingredients and makes a "volcano of foam", this is a popular experiment for children to perform in school or at parties. The experiement comes from pages of the Nat Geo Kids book Try This! The rate of foam formation measured in volume per time unit has a positive correlation with the peroxide concentration (v/V%), which means that the more reactants (peroxide concentration) the faster the rate of foam formation. Biology It is a liquid made from hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms (its chemical formula is H2O2). Exploring Enzymes, from Scientific American Cleanup Discover world-changing science. This foam looks like a giant squeeze of toothpaste—almost big enough for an elephant! Add a big squirt of dish soap into the bottle, and swirl gently to mix. A child with a great adult helper can perform this activity safely, and the results are wonderful. Normally this breakdown happens very slowly. Yeast, however, carries a protective enzyme called cata… Hydrogen peroxide is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O2). Two solutions are mixed resulting in an eruption of foam resembling a huge stream of toothpaste. Wash the foam down the sink when you are done with the activity. Subscribers get more award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. You usually find it in a 3 percent concentration (although higher concentrations are available, they are more dangerous and must be handled carefully). As a science writer for kids, parents, and teachers, I am careful to use the words correctly. How to Make Striped Elephant Toothpaste. [6] About 5-10 drops of food colouring could also be added before the catalyst to dramatise the effect. © 2021 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc. Support our award-winning coverage of advances in science & technology. The experiment is also known as the "marshmallow experiment", but is unrelated to the psychological St… Kid-Friendly Elephant Toothpaste Demo Mixing yeast and peroxide with detergent produces foam similar to shaving cream. [2][3][8] The iodide ion changes the mechanism by which the reaction occurs: The reaction is exothermic; the foam produced is hot. After a record breaking science experiment last year with YouTuber, and NASA engineer Mark Rober, we teamed-up once again along with engineers and fabricators to try for another World Record attempt while highlighting a […] Hydrogen peroxide breaks down into water and oxy… The iodide ion from potassium iodide acts as a catalyst and speeds up the reaction while remaining chemically unchanged in the reaction process. Reaction Let them drip down the inside of the bottle, but do not mix. General Questions on "Elephant Toothpaste" Equations: 1)$\ce{~2H2O2(aq)->2H2O(l) + O2(g)}$ Context: I have a few questions on the reaction commonly referred to as "Elephant Toothpaste".You see, I am doing a basic demonstration of chemistry to little kids. In normal conditions, this reaction takes place very slowly, therefore a catalyst is added to speed up the reaction, which will result in rapid formation of foam. Mark Rober uses hydrogen peroxide as the base for the elephant toothpaste experiment. Erupting Diet Coke with Mentos, from Science Buddies But you can make that reaction happen faster! Sodium iodide is slightly toxic by ingestion. These bubbles would usually escape from the liquid and pop quickly. Learn how to make Steve Spangler’s Elephant Toothpaste recipe using safe and easy materials you can find at home. You might be familiar with hydrogen peroxide as an antiseptic used to clean cuts and scrapes, which it does by killing bacteria. Hydrogen peroxide is a molecule made up of hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms. Purpose/Goal: Procedure presents an example of a catalyzed reaction. It can be expressed using the chemical formula, H 2 O 2. Elephant's toothpaste is a foamy substance caused by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide using potassium iodide or yeast and warm water as a catalyst. If an elephant used toothpaste, this is probably what it'd look like! Materials: 30% H 2O2 1 L Graduated cylinder KI or NaI Food coloring Liquid dish detergent Large bin Procedure: 1. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decomposes into water and oxygen gas, which is in the form of foam, but normally the reaction is too slow to be easily perceived or measured:[2]. Yeast Alive! The elephant toothpaste will bubble up out of the bottle. Follow him on Twitter @BenFinio. [6] The soapy water traps the oxygen, creating bubbles, and turns into foam. How rapidly the reaction proceeds will depend on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The experiment is also known as the "marshmallow experiment", but is unrelated to the psychological Stanford marshmallow experiment. Create a giant foaming reaction, and use science to wow your friends with this classic activity. Stir for about 30 seconds. A clean 16 ounce (473 ml) plastic soda bottle or a water bottle. It is typically used for lightening hair and is found at many beauty supply stores. What makes the foam appear? The oxygen gas forms bubbles. It is available in different strengths, or concentrations. Then, a catalyst, often around 10 ml potassium iodide solution or catalase from baker's yeast, is added to make the hydrogen peroxide decompose very quickly. Elephant toothpaste demo #1 (Catalyst: potassium iodide) This first video is a great introduction to Elephant Toothpaste – all of the ingredients are clearly labeled with captions. Given these safety precautions, its best to leave this one to the experts. The Liver: Helping Enzymes Help You, from Scientific American The reaction continues as long as there is some hydrogen peroxide and yeast left. Chemically, hydrogen peroxide is made of two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen atoms (H2O2). Thankfully, our “elephant toothpaste” experiment worked out well. Screenshot YouTube/Mark Rober The YouTubers use 20-Volume hydrogen peroxide, which is a 6% solution that's stronger than the kind found in pharmacies or drug stores. He'll show you the best way to reproduce this chemical reaction to get the best foaming action! It also breaks down when exposed to light, which is why it usually comes in dark brown bottles. When hydrogen peroxide breaks down, it turns into oxygen (O2) and water (H2O). It took 8 months, 150 tests and over 1,000 total working hours to reclaim what is rightfully mine :) Get your first month of KiwiCo for FREE!!! Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at, Yeast Alive! Elephant toothpaste is produced when you mix dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, and dry yeast. Enzymes, Foam and Hydrogen Peroxide, from Science Buddies Hydrogen peroxide breaks down into oxygen and water. You get the best reaction with the 12 percent hydrogen peroxide solution, however, if you're trying this with children, it might be safer to use the 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. When you get to step 4 in the instructions above do the following: Gently tilt the bottle and squeeze the food coloring onto the side of the bottle neck. In this experiment, we received a so-called elephant toothpaste. So, let’s start! Just befriend a chemistry teacher and ask her to perform the famous Exploding Toothpaste experiment. SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty Images Perhaps the only thing better than the classic elephant’s toothpaste experiment, is the elephant’s toothpaste experiment at an absolutely colossal scale! How rapidly the reaction occurs will depend on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide used. The dramatic elephant toothpaste chemistry demonstration produces copious amounts of steaming foam that looks like the kind of toothpaste an elephant might use to brush his tusks. The reaction creates foam that shoots up out of the bottle and pools in the pan. Let it drip down the side of the bottle. To see how to set up this demo and learn the science of the reaction behind it, read on. The hydrogen peroxide used in the demonstration is 30% hydrogen peroxide. page 3 Figure 1: Apparatus for Elephant Toothpaste experiment Elephant Toothpaste Experiment Data and Result Elephant toothpaste is the result of a chemical reaction that creates a rapid expansion of foam. The foam your kids will create in this experiment resembles toothpaste being squeezed from a tube—just be sure they don't get it in their mouth! The hydrogen peroxide in your cabinet is probably a 3% solution, which will work just fine for the experiment. Chemistry If your answer is yes, then you will be delighted with the comprehensive explanation. In this experiment, yeast is a catalyst that helps release oxygen molecules from the hydrogen peroxide solution. This fantastic effect you can get by combining just four ingredients: water, hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, and dish soap. This large demonstration uses hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2), sodium iodide (NaI) and soap. If you want to make your foam a single color, add a few drops of food coloring directly into the hydrogen peroxide, and swirl the bottle gently to mix. This experiment shows a very impressive and fast chemical reaction! [2][3] A glowing splint can be used to show that the gas produced is oxygen. First we pour in the hydrogen peroxide, then the soap and finally the sodium iodide. How? Under the right conditions, hydrogen peroxide will About 50 ml of concentrated (>30%)[5] hydrogen peroxide is first mixed with liquid soap or dishwashing detergent. Once one of them runs out it stops making new foam. Can you use 3 percent hydrogen peroxide for elephant toothpaste? More to Explore It can be used to make a chemical volcano or as a kid-friendly elephant toothpaste demo. [1] How rapidly the reaction proceeds will depend on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. I want to take a moment here, though, to talk about the difference between experiment and demonstration or activity . Catalase is present in almost all living things that are exposed to oxygen, and it helps them break down naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide. It is a liquid made from hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms (its chemical formula is H 2 O 2). Background The result is a fun oozing foam - big enough to use as elephant's toothpaste! However, in this particular video they call the experiment “marshmallow experiment” rather than “elephant toothpaste”.