Dancing Spaghetti

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In this chemistry activity, learners use spaghetti to explore density and chemical reactions. Learners will discover how a solution of baking soda and vinegar can make spaghetti float and even "dance" in water, whereas it usually sinks. This resource guide includes the formula for the reaction between vinegar and baking soda as well as quick extension ideas. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
5 to 10 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$1 - $5 per group of students
Age Range:
Ages 6 - 18
Resource Types:
Activity, Experiment/Lab Activity
Language:
English

Materials List (per group of students)

  • 1 1000-mL beaker or 1 glass mixing bowl
  • 10 g sodium hydrogen carbonate or 3 Tsp baking soda
  • 45 mL 3% acetic acid or 4-5 Tbsp vinegar
  • 10 2-cm pieces of vermicelli
  • water
  • raisins or mothballs (optional)
  • food coloring (optional)

Keywords

Subjects

  • Physical Sciences
    • Chemistry
      • Chemical Reactions
    • States of Matter
      • Gases
    • Structure and Properties of Matter
      • Volume and Density
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Conducting Investigations

Informal Categories

  • Food and Cooking
  • Science Festivals Activity

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

This resource is part of:

Access Rights:

  • Free access with registration

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