"Experiments ... few and gas, "a handy term to indicate that we do not take risks with something. But surely many would be surprised at the great potential in the laboratory of soft drinks, especially the coke, one of the best known.
Yes, the "spark of life" not only serves to quench thirst or to combine it with rum, but gives ample room for practical work in science classes. Not that this is an exceptionally reactive, but the unorthodox use has its advantages: it ensures the students' attention; is what is popular. And the funny thing is that it is in memory of students beyond what is expected. For example, recently I met at the wedding of the daughter of friends, which also I taught many many years ago with a group of alumni friends of hers. Some did not even remember what subject they taught, but another said suddenly:
- Well, I remember perfectly experiments with coke ...
Do you realize? Not to shoot rockets, but details like this reinforce my belief that science must be built from personal experience and support in daily life, so that students find it relevant. So Coke part of my laboratory equipment. Is a negligible acid, pH close to 3, thus serving for many experiments. For example, to soften egg shells, or bone to verify the conservation of mass to react with baking soda in bottles sealed with a balloon, or an example of breaking balance by changing the pressure conditions (when you open a bottle, Carbonic acid is unstable and is transformed into CO2, which forms the bubbles, or to show that this decomposition process consumes energy, so that if the water is very cold, it freezes when removing the cap, o.. .
experiments were very basic, but drew the attention of students, provided you take care of the staging. And just this part is what I have embroidered responsible for the initiative EepyBird who, incidentally, do not provide information about themselves and their goals on the website.
Science as spectacle EepyBird
"What happens when you combine 200 liters of Coke and 500 Mentos light? It's funny and completely insane "
This presents the challenge that teachers develop a lot of fun, with an impeccable staging. After a long series of tests, combining all sorts of variables, have made a few situations where the spectacle is unbeatable: towering geysers, tilting bottles batteries, pumps synchronized with music, or multiple jets, simulating "the fountains of Bellagio casino in Las Vegas." They've carefully worked, and well worth seeing the result.
Here you can access one of the videos (sometimes a bit slow, and you have to muster some patience)
To give an even more surreal, there are questions that have no waste:
"you explode if you drink Coke and eat Mentos?"
is not surprising that those responsible "the spark of life" are not very happy. They prefer that people consume this drink as normal and predictable, and do not seem inclined to place their product in the channel of the chemical reagents.
