Hooked On Science: Levitating Bubbles

Levitating Bubbles

INGREDIENTS

• Small Aquarium
• Gloves
• Thermometer
• Bubble Solution
• Dry Ice
• Warm Water

INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1:  With the gloves on your hands, place a piece of dry ice on the bottom of the small aquarium. Using the thermometer, determine the temperature of the dry ice. Is the dry ice a solid or a liquid and why? Describe the dry ice by using its observable properties.

STEP 2:  Add warm water to the aquarium. Is the water a solid or a liquid and why? Describe the water by using its observable properties. Describe what happens when the warm water is added to the aquarium.

STEP 3:  Using the bubble solution, blow bubbles, so they fall into the aquarium. Describe what happens to the bubbles in the aquarium. Describe the bubbles by using their observable properties.

EXPLANATION
When warm water is added to the dry ice, which is frozen carbon dioxide gas, the dry ice sublimates, which means it goes from a solid to a gas. The bubbles are less dense than the carbon dioxide gas and float on the cushion of gas. Go to www.hookedonscience.org for more experiments that might get you and your family “Hooked on Science.”