Experiment: Find Your Inner Scientist

In honor of the San Diego Science Festival that started March 19, this week’s trivia has gone experimental. Rather than the usual multiple choice question, we’re making you scientist for a day – or, at least, ten minutes. So, throw on your makeshift lab coat and safety goggles, and get your science on by conducting this simple experiment with items found around the house:

Materials:

• ¾ cup vinegar
• Baking soda
• 1 balloon
• Plastic Bottle
• Funnel

Method:

• Fill the plastic bottle with vinegar and set aside.
• Using the funnel, fill the balloon with baking soda.
• Without dumping any baking soda out, secure just the lip of the balloon around the bottle opening so it hangs limp over the side.
• When you’re ready, pull the balloon taught so the baking soda falls into the bottle and the liquid below.

What happened, and why? Record your observations and submit your results via the ‘comments’ section of this article by the end of the festival, next Friday, March 25, to be entered in the trivia prize drawing. To be eligible for a bonus prize if your name is drawn, accompany your answer with photo and/or video footage of your laboratory work. Happy experimenting!

Note: children conducting this experiment should do so only under adult supervision.

Answer to last week’s St. Patrick’s Day trivia question:

How did St. Patrick originally arrive in Ireland?

C. He was kidnapped and taken into Ireland as a slave. After escaping, it is said that he left the country to find his family, and did not return until after he entered the Church. It was during this second run that his sainthood was established.

Congratulations to last week’s winner, William Burgener!