Science Experiment: Heated Gases Expand - Ivory Soap

Curious Pearl teaches her little brother about the states of matter when she shows him how to freeze juice into a popsicle. Matter can change when it is heated or called. It can be a solid, a liquid, or to a gas. You can learn more about using science to make slushies and ice cream at home at Science Experiment: Melting Point - DIY Slushie.

You can also do a dramatic experiment with a bar of soup to see how heat can change matter. When a substance is heated it's molecules move faster. You can see this in a pot of water when you heat it on the stove. As the water gets hotter its molecules begin to move until the water is boiling.

When gases are heated the same thing happens. As gas is heated up the amount of space the gas takes up increases. You can see this by heating up a bar of soap. To make sure you have a bar of soap that will work, float it in a bowl of water. A bar of soap will float if it has air bubble whipped into it.

Try it at Home! What You Need:

Bar of Soap that Floats (Ivory Soap does!)
Bowl of Water
Paper Plate
Microwave

Break or cut the bar of soap into four pieces. Put the pieces on a paper plate and microwave for 1 minute. Watch the ivory soap through the microwave window.

As you heat the soap molecules in the air bubbles move quickly away from each other, or expand. This is called Charles's Law. The same thing happens when you roast a marshmallow.

Sciece Experiment Idea: Choose different kinds of soap to see what will happen when they are heated up for one minute in the microwave. Be sure to heat each bar of soap up on the same kind of plate and make sure you heat each bar for the same amount of time. The variable in this experiment is the soap, everything else has to be the same. Do the bars of soap each react the same way when they are heated up in the microwave? Why do you think so? Tip: Choose ivory soap for one of your trials - it's cool!

Websites, Activities & Printables:

• Encyclopedia Britannica Kids: Heated Air Expands
• BBC Bitesize: Solids, Liquids and Gases
• Chem4Kids: Looking for a Gas
• Steve Spangler Science: Balloon Expansion
• Curiodyssey: How to Blow Up a Balloon with Hot Air
• Kids Corner Science: Expanding Marshmallows

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

Books:

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out e-books and e-audiobooks from home right to your device. If you have never used Axis 360 or OverDrive before, you can learn how to use them for both e-books and audiobooks.

• e-Books and audiobooks about Science Experiments from Axis 360 Kids
• e-Books and audiobooks about Science Experiments from Overdrive Kids

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.