Cody recently received a chemistry set as a gift, and decided to do the experiment where you use vinegar and baking soda to blow up a balloon. The kid is hooked. He now tells me that he wants to be a scientist (in the water, so he can still SCUBA for a living) when he grows up.
What this book suggests, that I don't recall ever doing before, is after you fill the balloon with the CO2 from the reaction, fill two other balloons with regular air and helium, and then compare them. We noticed right away that the CO2 balloon was much heavier than the room air balloon. We didn't actually fill one with helium, but we know from prior experience that it would have been lighter. We also noticed that the balloon got really cold as it filled with CO2. That makes this an endothermic reaction. I always thought it was exothermic (meaning that it gives off heat), probably because when people are making model volcanos, this is the stuff they use for the lava (see, I remember a little more p-chem, but I'm pretty sure I don't remember it from Leslie Leifer's class).
I'm so glad that Cody is curious and interesting in finding out more about how things work.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Here's what Caleb's been up to lately. We're gonna blame this one on cousin Joshua, even though it's not really his fault. It was inevitable, really...
Yes, he's cleaning the table with one of his many toothbrushes.
He's not strong enough to pull the chair away from the table, so he gets stuck.
Ready for some grub.
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