MEMPHIS JUNIOR SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
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Pepper and Soap Experiment!

Key Concepts

Picture

Materials: 
4 cups        Water
1                   Large bowl
1                   Small bowl 
1                   Ground pepper shaker
1 squirt     soap


Activity Directions:
  1. Pour 4 cups of water into a large bowl.
  2. Sprinkle pepper into the water until there’s a thin layer of pepper on the surface. 
  3. Squirt a little bit of soap into a small bowl.
  4. Take your index finger and dip it into the soap. 
  5. Take your index finger and dip it down into the center of the large bowl.
  6. Notice that the pepper “runs away” from your finger!

Discussion Questions & Science Explanations:
  1. Why do the flakes float instead of sinking into the water?
    1. The water molecules at the surface of the water like to stick together, making the surface of the water tight as if it were covered with plastic wrap. This property of water is called surface tension—you might have seen this cool effect in raindrops on a leaf. 
    2. The pepper flakes are hydrophobic, meaning that they repel water and do not like to mix with it. Because of a combination of the fact that pepper flakes are light and hydrophobic and that water exhibits surface tension, the pepper flakes float on top of the water.
  2. Why do the pepper flakes seem to “run away” from my finger?
    1. Soap disturbs the bonds between water molecules, and therefore disrupts the surface tension of water when they’re mixed. Because water naturally wants to preserve its surface tension, water molecules near the soap will move away from the soap to another place where they can maintain surface tension. 
    2. When the water molecules move away from the soap, they carry the pepper flakes with them. This creates the effect of the pepper flakes “running away”. 

​Additional Experimentation:
  1. Instead of soap, try using other liquids like oil or juice. Do these liquids also cause the same effect? 
  2. Instead of pepper flakes, you can try to use other substances like sprinkles. Do these still float on top of the water? Do they run away just like pepper? ​

Suggested video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV9YzDF5EOM

​Published 6.19.2020

Author: Alex Zhang

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  • Home
  • About Us
  • Memphis, TN
    • Science Storytime
    • Science After School
    • Y on the Fly
    • Senior Technology Education Program
    • K-5 Science Challenge
    • MS Science Challenge
    • Girls’ Science Discovery Day
    • Elementary Invitational
  • Museum Partnerships
    • Huntsville, AL
    • Jackson, MS >
      • Science Spectacular
      • Sensational Science
    • St. Louis, MO
    • Little Rock, AR
    • Lexington, KY
  • challenges
    • Little Rock Challenge
    • Huntsville Challenge
    • Memphis Elementary Challenge
    • Memphis Middle School Challenge
  • Calendar
  • Gallery
  • Science at Home
    • Science Projects >
      • Make Your Own Volcano!
      • Make Your Own Potato Clock!
      • Grow Your Own Sugar Crystal!!
      • Dye Your Own Flowers!
      • Dissolving Egg Shells!
      • Make a pH indicator!
      • Pepper and Soap Experiment!
      • Sundial!
      • Coke and Mentos!
      • Carbon Sugar Snake!
      • Extracting Iron from Cereal!​
      • Blowing up Balloons!
      • Leaf Transpiration!
      • Create a Density Column!
      • Make Your Own Compost!
      • Make Your Own Ice Cream!
      • Maka a Lava Lamp!
      • Skittles Science Experiment!
      • Walking Water!
      • Rolling a Can with Electricity!
      • Ice Tray Battery!
      • Imploding Can!
      • Steel Wool in Vinegar!
      • Invisible Ink!
      • Supercooling Water!
      • Picking Up Ice Cubes!
      • Polar Bear Blubber!
      • Fireworks in Water!
      • Cleaning Pennies!
      • Cleaning Pennies - Extended!
    • Astronomy >
      • Constellation Cups
      • Layers of the Earth!
      • Moon Phases Flipbook!
      • Layers of the Atmosphere!
      • Black Holes!
      • Gravity!
      • Eclipses!
      • Nebulae!
      • The Solar System
      • Clouds in a Jar!
      • Mars!
      • Telescopes!
      • Solar Oven!
      • Stars!
      • Comets!
      • Astronauts!
      • Polar Lights!
      • Venus!
    • Anatomy >
      • The Skeletal System
      • The Respiratory System
      • The Digestive System
      • The Circulatory System
      • The Endocrine System
      • The Nervous System
      • The Integumentary System
      • Lung Cancer
      • Lukemia
      • Lymphoma
      • Pancreatic Cancer
      • Renal Cancer
      • Bile Duct Cancer
      • Mitosis and The Cell Cycle