A classic investigation into the chemistry of bones.

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With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to do an experiment with a turkey. I have read that Ben Franklin used live turkeys in several of his electrical experiments, I won't go that far. Instead, I thought we would revive an old but "classic" experiment.

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Use chemistry to change the colors in a bouquet of flowers.

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This spice makes a marvelous acid/base indicator!

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No Dented Cans

Why do people say not to purchase dented cans?

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Weathering the Ages

Want to study erosion? That is a grave undertaking.

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Instant Fizz

What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder? And why should you care?

This week, we are going on a hunt. No, we are not hunting for birds on wires, as I did for this week's video. Instead, we are hunting for acid. The word "acid" usually makes people think of dangerous chemicals, burning and corroding, but it describes an entire range of chemicals.

OK, so where are we going to look for acids? Not in your car, although there is acid in the car battery. Instead, we will look for acids in your refrigerator. The refrigerator! What would acid be doing in there? As we shall see, it is sitting there waiting for you to consume it.

Before we start hunting, we really should know what an acid is. A chemist will tell you that an acid is a chemical that will give up a hydrogen ion to another compound, called a base. That may seem complicated, but there is an easier way to identify acids. All we have to do is look at the word itself. Acid comes from acidus, the Latin word for sour. Acids have a sour taste.

Taste! Wait a minute! Don't try tasting battery acid, or for that matter, any chemical that is just lying around. We will limit our tasting to the things in your refrigerator, but don't worry. We will find plenty of acids there.

Now comes the fun part. Go open the refrigerator door, and we will start our hunt. Lets begin with the easy things. What do you see that has a sour taste?

If your refrigerator is like mine, the first thing you will see is a jar of pickles. Actually, in my refrigerator, you would see five or six jars of pickles, because I really like pickles. What do pickles taste like? Sour, right? Even sweet pickles have a sour taste, mixed with the sweet. Don't take my word for it. Have a pickle. What makes pickles taste sour? Vinegar, and most of the flavor of vinegar comes from acetic acid. As you taste your way though the refrigerator, you should find all sorts of things that contain vinegar, from salad dressings to hot sauces to mustards.

OK, now what else in here tastes sour? What about that lemon hiding down there on the bottom shelf? Lemons are certainly sour, which means they should contain acid, and they do. The acid in a lemon is citric acid, which makes sense since lemons are citrus fruit. Citric acid is found in other citrus fruits, such as limes, and grapefruits, but it is also a common ingredient in jams, jellies, canned fruit, and even soft drinks. While you are in the refrigerator, be sure to taste all those too.

We have found two abundant acids, but don't stop now. Those soft drinks contain another kind of acid called carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is formed when you dissolve carbon dioxide in water, so anything that is carbonated contains this acid.

The citrus fruits also contain ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C. If you have ever taken vitamin C tables, you will remember the sour taste. Ascorbic acid is present in tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables.

Looking on down the shelves, you might see a carton of sour cream. A quick taste will tell you that it lives up to its name, so it must contain acid, and it does. In this case, it contains lactic acid, an acid formed when milk spoils, which is why we say that the milk has soured. It is also the acid that gives yogurt it’s pleasantly tart flavor.

If you happen to have any strawberry rhubarb pie, the tartness of the rhubarb comes from oxalic acid, which is also present in spinach, beets, many kinds of berries, and even in chocolate.

If you continue tasting and reading labels you will come across several other acids, but by now you should realize how large a role acids play in the flavors of our food. Even that bowl of cherry ice cream that is waiting for me contains citric acid, ascorbic acid, and oxalic acid.

Do limit your tasting to the yummy stuff in the refrigerator (and the freezer where the ice cream is kept), but since practically everything in your refrigerator contains at least a little acid of some kind, you should have no trouble satisfying any sour cravings. Well, my ice cream is melting and the chocolate sauce is calling, so I will stop for now.

Have a wonder-filled week.

Two weeks ago, we took the first steps in learning about how soap was once made by using water to dissolve potassium hydroxide out of paper ashes. You can find part one at: http://thehappyscientist.com/science-experiment/wood-ash

If we had been serious about making soap, we would have used a lot more ashes, probably from a wood fire. We would have dissolved the potassium hydroxide in water and then would have boiled the water to concentrate the chemicals.

Once we had a strong solution, we would have mixed the strong base with fat or oil for a process called saponification. The result would have been soap.

This week, we will do something very similar, on a much smaller scale. To try this, you will need:

- a dirty sink
- a sponge
- a porcelain cleaner that contains bleach. I used a product called Soft Scrub with bleach and it worked very well. Comet Cleanser with bleach also worked very well.

First, be careful. Anything that contains bleach can leave white, bleached spots on clothing, and can irritate your eyes.

Wet the sponge and the sink. Apply the cleaner with the sponge. Be sure to follow the directions on the package, and use it properly. Then scrub the sink. Do a good job, and get all the corners.

When you are done, rinse the sink well. While your fingers are wet, rub them together. They should feel very slippery. That slippery feeling is the result of saponification. The bleach in the cleaner is sodium hypochlorite, a strong base, just as potassium hydroxide is. A strong base will react with the fatty acids in the fat to produce soap and glycerol.

Soap? Did we really just make soap? Yes that slippery feeling is the result of saponification of the oils in your skin. The same basic process is used in oven cleaners and chemicals to open clogged drains. A strong base will convert the grease in the oven or drain into soap, which can be washed away.

Now, to make any of that into a really nice, useable soap, it would take more processing to balance the fat with the basic chemical, and then remove the impurities. Still, you really did make a tiny bit of soap. I do not recommend the process for cleaning your hands, but you are sure to get compliments on the nice, clean sink. If you want to experiment more, I am sure that the tub could use cleaning too. You might even earn a nice bowl of ice cream.

Have a wonder-filled week.

This week's experiment comes from an article I read on technological developments. While reading about ways to make iron, glass, and other historic processes, I became fascinated about the section on soap making. Now, we will not go through the entire process of making soap (at least not this week), but we will experiment with the first steps in classic soap making. To do that, you will need:

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Can you mix two clear liquids to produce a black liquid? Of course you can!

Part 2 of this video is at: http://thehappyscientist.com/science-video/changing-colors-part-2

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A continuation of video 120 (http://thehappyscientist.com/science-video/changing-colors-part-1). This time we will mix two clear liquids to form a white liquid. Then we mix that with the black liquid from last time, to wind up with a clear liquid again.

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Make an easy indicator solution for identifying acids and bases.

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