Kitchen Chemistry Demonstrations
See also: Food Science
Kitchen chemistry focuses on the science that can be found in everyday materials and processes related to food and cooking. This category highlights how common substances can demonstrate chemical principles in ways that are accessible and relatable. Exploring kitchen chemistry helps connect scientific ideas to familiar experiences.
| Demonstration | Materials | Difficulty | Safety | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedimentary Rock Snacks | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | Using rice krispies, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and candies, students create layered snack bars that model the formation of sedimentary rocks in the rock cycle. |
| Red Cabbage Rainbow pH Indicator | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★★☆ | Boiled red cabbage produces a purple solution containing anthocyanin, a natural pigment that changes color when exposed to acids or bases. Students can use this homemade pH indicator to test household substances and create a rainbow of colors across the pH scale. |
| Microwave Hot Spots With Marshmallows | ★★☆ | ★☆☆ | ★★☆ | Marshmallows are heated in a microwave with and without the rotating tray to reveal the uneven distribution of energy inside the oven. This demonstrates how microwaves create hot and cold spots due to their wave pattern. |
| Making Slime | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | This activity demonstrates polymer chemistry by making slime from glue, baking soda, and contact lens solution. Crosslinking between polymer chains in glue changes the liquid into a stretchy, rubbery material with unique properties. |
| Cornstarch and Water | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | This experiment uses cornstarch and water to create "oobleck," a non-Newtonian fluid that behaves like a liquid when poured but like a solid when struck or squeezed. It provides a hands-on way to explore suspensions and unusual fluid dynamics. |
| Cooking an Egg Without Heat | ★★☆ | ★☆☆ | ★★☆ | This experiment shows how alcohol can denature proteins in egg whites, causing them to coagulate and turn white, just like when cooking with heat. It demonstrates protein structure disruption and how proteins lose their natural shape under different conditions. |
| Cookie Mining | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | Students mine chocolate chips out of cookies using toothpicks to simulate coal mining. The activity models the environmental impact of strip mining on habitats and helps students understand that fossil fuels are non-renewable resources. |
| Carbonated Drink Shake Up | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | This demonstration explores what happens when a shaken soda can is opened. Shaking introduces bubbles that cling to the can’s inner surface. Opening the can releases pressure, causing these bubbles to expand and force liquid out in a foamy burst. By snapping the sides of the can before opening, bubbles are dislodged and float to the top, reducing the mess. |
| Carbon Sugar Snake | ★★★ | ★★☆ | ★★★ | A mixture of sugar and baking soda is ignited with lighter fluid on a sand base, producing an expanding black "snake" of carbon and sodium carbonate as gases from decomposition push the solid upward. |
| Candy Chromatography | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | ★☆☆ | Paper chromatography is used to separate the dye mixture from colored candy coatings and compare the separated spots to known food colorings. Measure and compare Rf values to infer which approved food dyes are present. |
Materials
★☆☆ Easy to get from supermarket or hardware store
★★☆ Available in most school laboratories or specialist stores
★★★ Requires materials not commonly found in school laboratories
Difficulty
★☆☆ Can be easily done by most teenagers
★★☆ Available in most school laboratories or specialist stores
★★★ Requires a more experienced teacher
Safety
★☆☆ Minimal safety procedures required
★★☆ Some safety precautions required to perform safely
★★★ Only to be attempted with adequate safety procedures and trained staff