You’ll learn about the key ingredient in an explosive eruption like the one we’re simulating in lab today.


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6 Responses to “Test Tube Cannon”

  1. Aurora Lipper says:

    So glad you and your daughter enjoyed this experiment! Yes, your daughter’s explanation sounds right to me.

  2. rhall6187 says:

    Hi Aurora!
    We just did the test tube cannon experiment. It was so cool. I had my daughter put different volumes of vinegar in each tube 1 ml, 2 ml, and 3 ml. I said to make the prediction of which one would go the farthest. She said the one with the least amount of vinegar. I thought the one with the most vinegar (we used equal amounts of baking soda) would go the farthest, but it was the one with the least. When I asked her why she thought the one with the least, she said that it had more space to produce more gas (elementary Wilson). I was secretly bemused since I was the one who was a chemistry major in college. Go figure ;-), stumped by an eighth grader. But anyway, was her thought process correct?

  3. When you read through the steps under the video, you can see how the ruler is used to make measurements of how much reactants you are adding to your experiment. For most kids, they just want to do the experiment and enjoy the process. However, if you need more details on how to make a data log and take real data, then you’ll use the rest of the equipment and read through the instructions carefully.

  4. Michelle Stevens says:

    What I was going to say was, what were the ruler, measuring tape, and scale for? They weren’t used in the video. I also noticed that in the beginning of the video, it showed a picture of the basic hovercraft. Anyway, I tried this experiment and it flew probably 15 feet or so in the air! 🙂

  5. This one is carbon dioxide, just like the soda pop idea you had. 🙂

  6. Anonymous says:

    We were thinking this is kind of like a soda pop when you shake it and it runs all over. Which type of gas does that produce to make it explode like that?