Experiment 7: Black Snakes!

The Experiment

The Results

I'd give it a B-.  We had a couple of goes, but couldn't quite get the snake effect to work as we wanted, but we still enjoyed doing it.  If it was anything, it was closer to a Black Octopus than a Snake.

The Science

I'm just going to link to this page.  I didn't do much chemistry at school so I don't really understand the reaction myself.  Suffice to say that the bicarb and the sugar release CO2 gas which puffs up the ashy residue into a snake.

Experiment 6: Water Rocket!

The Experiment

The Results

A pretty neat rocket, it fired up quite high. We were also able to keep re-using it, which added to the fun.

The Science

This, of course, is Newton's Third Law of Motion in action: commonly phrased as "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".  Essentially the when the bung pops out, the compressed air trapped in the bottle is free to expand and forces the water out towards the ground, which in turn results in the rocket being propelled upwards.