Kitchen Science Article Answers

I recently wrote an article entitled, “Kitchen Science Delivers Food for Thought—Five Ways to Transform Breakfast into a Science Experiment.” Why not fix the hubbie breakfast tomorrow, with your children’s help, and turn the whole adventure into a science experiment. Read my article at www.super-science-fair-projects.com/kitchen-science.html to learn how. Get your children to guess the science involved in the experiments. Then double-check their answers with the ones I’ve posted below. Have fun and let me know about your experience.

1. How is the flimsy straw able to spear a tough potato?

As the straw strikes the potato, the air inside the straw is forced upwards in an effort to escape. However, it is held prisoner by the cruel finger. Not to be undone, the air then tries to flee by pushing against the sides of the straw making it rigid and therefore strong enough to push through the potato.

2. Do you know how to make eggs disappear?

Once you’ve blown the contents from an egg as described in the article, all you have left is the shell. Vinegar is an acidic solution able to break down the egg shell (calcium carbonate). After a few days the shell will be completely gone. Links explaining this experiment further:
Naked Egg Activity
Disappearing Egg Shell

3. Does toast always land butter side up?

Actually more people probably believe that toast always lands butter side down. It’s a sort of Murphy’s Law philosophy that drives this opinion. Believe it or not there are people who have actually considered this question very seriously.

I’ve seen two differing explanations for toast landing butter side down/up. One is that the fall of the toast is random and doesn’t necessarily happen more often one way (butter side up) or the other (butter side down). However, we remember when the toast lands butter side down because we then have a mess to clean up.

The other explanation takes into account the height of the person holding the toast or the table the toast is on. Let’s assume the toast starts off butter side up. As the toast falls, gravity forces it to spin a certain number of revolutions (depending on the height again) landing it butter side down. This actually seems the more valid of the two explanations to me. You’ll have to make your own determination based on your observations. If you'd like to read more about this, here are a couple of helpful links:
The Maths of Murphy's Law
Buttered Toast and Other Patterns

4. Can you create a blended juice taste sensation?

There is a science to finding a winning recipe. Chefs who create award winning taste treats experiment through trial and error until they find the perfect blend of flavors. Cooks understand how various foods/drinks react with each other as well. The fun here is in the mixology and the tasting. Think of drinks you enjoy and then try to create them. Why not try to concoct a vanilla coke, raspberry ice tea, cherry 7-up, or an orange Julius?!


5. Can you peel a banana without using your hands?

At the beginning of this experiment the air pressure inside and outside of the bottle are equal. Heat (from the lit match) causes the air to expand and push against the sides of the bottle and the banana. Some of the heated air even escapes around the banana. Once the fire goes out, the air begins to cool and therefore contract. This creates an imbalance in air pressure. There is now greater air pressure outside the bottle which forces the banana into the bottle.

I hope you enjoyed these Kitchen experiments. Check out my Science Fair page for more resources.

Until we meet in the teachers' lounge again,

Linda W. Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com