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Lemon Juice Rockets II next ZOOMsci | ZOOMsci index | list of activities | Your Results Sent in by: Michael of GA and Kyle of MI Have a blast-off! Pop a cork! Materials needed:
Instructions: 1. Check with a grown-up before you begin. 2. If you've ever made a Lemon Juice Rocket, you'll remember that lemon juice and baking soda combine to form bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. But it's not just lemon juice that can make bubbles and pop a cork. Test out three different acidic juices to find out which can shoot a cork rocket the farthest. The ZOOMers tested lime juice, grapefruit juice and tomato juice. 3. The ZOOMers charted their results. To make your own chart, write the liquids you test in rows on the left side of your page and write the results you want to track in columns at the top of your page. The ZOOMers recorded Height of the Bubbles, Reaction Time in Cup, Height of Rockets and Reaction Time of Rockets. 4. Predict which liquid will be fastest and slowest. Predict which will go highest and lowest. Write your predictions on your chart so that you can compare them later to your results. 5. To start the activity, put one teaspoon of baking soda in each of three clear glasses. 6. Add one cup of each liquid you are testing to each of the glasses. 7. Observe and chart the reactions of each of your liquids to the baking soda. Which liquid bubbled the highest? Which reacted the slowest? Write your results on your chart and compare them to your predictions. 8. Now, test these liquids as rocket fuel. Make sure you do this part outside, because these rockets make a mess when they blast off. 9. Based on your results from testing the liquids in glasses, make predictions about how well each rocket will perform. How high will it go? How quickly will it blast off? 10. Write your predictions on your chart to compare to your results later. 11. To build your rockets, pour one cup of each liquid you are testing into each of your water bottles. 12. Make three fuel cells out of one teaspoon of baking soda wrapped in a square of toilet paper. 13. Test one rocket at a time. Just drop the packet of baking soda into the bottle, put the cork in the top of the bottle and wait. 14. Time how long it takes to fizz up and launch the rocket. Compare how high the rockets fly. 15. Once you have launched each of your rockets, record your results on your chart. Compare your results to your predictions. Were you spot on or way off? Why do you think the liquids reacted they way they did? Make sure you send your results to ZOOM! You can also send us your pictures or video of this ZOOMsci: ZOOMsci ZOOM Box 350 Boston, MA 02134 Some of your results: Christopher, age 8 of Winnetka, CA wrote: Me and My Sister did it outside with lemon juice, apple juice, and steak sauce. The lemon juice made a big mess, the steak sauce started to fizz but then went down, but when we added water it worked. The apple juice didn't work. Jack, age 9 of Los Angeles, CA wrote: I tried it with the lime juice and it went two stories high. Brady, age 14 of Herrick, IL wrote: Me and my sister tried the experiment with Pepsi Blue and lemon juice. We tried it out side with a gatoraid (sp.) bottle instead of a cork. The bottle had a twist top so when I shook it up I could just twist the top of it. The lemon juice went the highest and the Pepsi Blue didnt go at all. Reggie, age 8 of Toronto, ON wrote: Here are my results from trying out the zoom sci with the luquid rockets... Me and my cousin try out the rockets, we tried coke.. but coke didnt work, it didnt explosed. So after, we tried vineger and that work and it was so fun me and my cousin were laughing hahaha... Isaac, age 13 of Rialto, CA wrote: When I put 2 cups of baking soda and 3 cups of lemon juice, the rocket went 20 feet high and it was a big mess. Allie, age 12 of Mt. Laurel, NJ wrote: I used many acidic liquids: balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, and prune juice. The Balsamic vinegar and orange juice rockets went very high. While the soy sauce and the prunce juice just made TINY bubbles. Kara, age 11 of Cedar Falls, IA wrote: I used pickle jucie and it fizzed for a little bit. So if you do it tommrow, can you do pickle jucie. Lacy, age 12 of Hooksett, NH wrote: I only did the cork part. The grapefruit juice made the cork go the highest, then the lime juice. The tomato juice didn't make the cork pop off. On TV you asked if we could make the tomato juice make enough gas to pop the cork off. It took me only 2 teaspoons of baking soda to pop off the cork. Ashley, age 13 of Regina, SK wrote: Instead of adding lime juice I added cranberry juice and baking soda together and it worked. Luke, age 13 of Calhoun City, MS wrote: I tryed out the lemon juice rockets and but insted of lemon juice I used Worcestershire Sauce, and Pickle juice. And It worked out very good. Kelly, age 9 of Tempe, AZ wrote: My friend and I did this, but we used vinegar, unsweetened lime juice, and unsweetened lemon juice. The vinegar went the fastest (and we kind of figured that), and the lemon juice went the slowest. We figured out that the lime juice made the baking soda sort of chunky. When we added the lemon juice, it made it more fizzy. Isn't that intresting?
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