This super fun and easy experiment to do with kids only requires a few simple household ingredients! Kids will love watching raisins magically bounce up and down in a glass of fizzy liquid in this Dancing Raisins Experiment!
Find more Vinegar Experiments here!
The chemical reaction responsible for making these raising dance in water is the same as the classic baking soda and vinegar reaction with a new twist!
Dancing Raisins Experiment
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Supplies Needed:
How to Do Dancing Raisins Experiment
- Fill a tall and clear glass halfway with water.
- Add 2 spoonfuls of baking soda and stir until it’s dissolved.
- Dump a handful of raisins into the glass of water and baking soda.
- Pour vinegar into the class and watch as the raisins start dancing around!
Step 1: Pour Some Water Into a Cup
Let’s go ahead and get this fun dancing raisins experiment started by pouring enough water into a clear, tall glass to fill it about halfway full.
You want to cup to be as clean and clear as possible to make sure your dancing raisins will be very visible and easy to watch and enjoy!
Step 2: Mix 2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda into the Water
Now we need to add a little baking soda into our water. Pour about 2 or 3 tablespoons of baking powder into your cup and water.
Stir the baking soda into the water really good until the baking soda is completely dissolved in the water.
You can stop stirring when the water changes from the cloudy, foggy look to becoming clear again (about 20-30 seconds).
Step 3: Drop Some Raisins Into the Mixture
Now its time to add a few raisins into the mixture! This is the part where you and the kids can sneak a little snack if you would like, but be sure to leave a handful of raisins to throw into your experiment!
You will want to drop about 5-10 raisins into your cup of baking soda and water mixture. The amount of raisins you add depends on if you want lots of dancing raisins or if you want the experiment to last a little longer.
The more raisins you add, the less amount of time your reaction will last, but the more eye-popping it will be!
Step 4: Add Some Vinegar to Start the Raisin Dancing Reaction
Hint: You can also switch step 3 and 4 and put the raisins in after the vinegar if you want! Notice that is what we did in the image above compared to the image below.
Either way, it’s time for the fun to begin! Go ahead and pour some vinegar into the baking soda and water mixture.
Add enough vinegar that the liquid is almost all the way to the top in the glass, but leave enough space for the fizzing bubbles of the reaction to not spill and make a big mess!
When the vinegar is added to the mixture, the reaction will create a very fizzy bubbling event inside the glass and the raisins will start dancing up and down inside the glass!
The raisins should continue to rise and fall inside the glass for several minutes before eventually settling back down to the bottom as the baking soda and vinegar reaction responsible for the dance show stops.
Dancing Raisins Conclusion
The secret to making these raisins float, sink, and float again in a dancing rhythm is all thanks to the tiny little carbon dioxide bubbles created from the baking soda and vinegar reacting together.
When the vinegar is poured into the water and baking soda mixture, the reaction releases carbon dioxide (CO2) from the baking soda in the form of tiny little bubbles.
These little gas bubbles attach and accumulate to the surface of the raisins. Eventually enough bubbles connect to the raisins to pull the raisins up to the top of the liquid.
As the raisins hit the surface of the liquid solution, the air bubbles pop and gravity pulls the raisins back to the bottom again.
This process will continue to repeat itself until the vinegar has released all the carbon dioxide from the baking soda. At that point the raisin dance party will come to an end…but you can always do it again!
Try This:
You can try this experiment using different objects to see if they will dance like the raisins did. We tried it with grapes in this cool Dancing Grapes Experiment and it worked pretty good too!
You can also use sparkling water or any type of carbonated drink to put the grapes or raisins in and they will dance.
We just made our own sparkling water with the water, baking soda, and vinegar mixture since we didn’t have any carbonated beverages at home.
PIN THIS EXPERIMENT FOR LATER
Leave a Reply