I mixed up two different liquids (potassium iodide and a very strong solution of hydrogen peroxide) to get a foamy result at a live workshop I did recently. See what you think!


Note: because of the toxic nature of this experiment, it’s best to leave this one to the experts.




Nurses will put hydrogen peroxide on a cut to kill germs. It’s also used in rocket fuel as an oxidizer. The hydrogen peroxide in your grocery store is a weak 3% solution. The hydrogen peroxide used here is 10X stronger than the grocery store variety. The KI (potassium iodide) is the catalyst in the experiment which speeds up the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide. This is an exothermic reaction (gives off heat).


Have a question ?

Tell us what you're thinking...

Comments

15 Responses to “Elephant Toothpaste”

  1. arrowmakercpi says:

    Right after it overflowed it poofed out and changed color! so cool!

  2. This experiment should be available in eCamp, which starts in June 🙂

  3. Incredible!!! how come it only showed what happened and not how to do it.

  4. Linda Griffith says:

    love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

  5. Judy Seigfried says:

    Where would i get potassium iodide?

  6. Judy Seigfried says:

    “IT’S BLOOD!” best line ever. that was really cool

  7. Kerri Forney says:

    Thanks!:-)

  8. This experiment is coming in the Chemistry Lab in August in e-Camp… 🙂

  9. Kerri Forney says:

    i can’t find the Dinosaur Toothpaste video anywhere. I looked in the summer e-camp program and still can’t find it. any ideas?

  10. It’s in our summer e-Camp program, which is available in June. Look for it soon!

  11. Kerri Forney says:

    wow….this is amazing!!! quick question…..I watched the DINOSAUR Toothpaste video a while back, and wanted to watch it again, I did a search for it and I couldn’t find anything. any ideas?

  12. Jessica Smith says:

    I didnt know that the decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide could do that WOW!!!!!

  13. Wow…. how do you do it?

  14. Whoa.. I mean wow! That’s incredible!! I wish you could do that for my kids in our bathtub (it looks messy)