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ERIC Number: EJ1256629
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jun
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Sizzle and Fizzle of Bath Bombs: An Inexpensive and Accessible Kinetics Experiment
Cabassa, Meaghan; Haas, Beth L.
Journal of Chemical Education, v97 n6 p1629-1632 Jun 2020
Cosmetic chemistry is a prevalent part of everyday life, but there are very few undergraduate laboratories that explore this topic. Here, we present a laboratory exercise in which students use fizzing bath tablets (better known as "bath bombs") to learn about introductory kinetics. Students created their own bath bombs by combining citric acid, baking soda, and Epsom salts and reacted them at a range of temperatures. Students observed a trend consistent with the Arrhenius equation and collision theory: the reaction time decreased as the temperature of the water increased. This experiment is ideal for first year undergraduate chemistry courses and was met with excitement and enthusiasm from the students who tested it. The experiment uses readily available and inexpensive ingredients, making it very accessible and an attractive demonstration for outreach events.
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A