PEPPER AND LIQUID DETERGENT

OR SOAP EXPERIMENT

SCIENCE LAB

RICARDO LEON SIMON

THIRD GRADE
«JULIO VERNE»
 MATERIALS

For this experiment you need : cold

water , a glass bowl , pepper and
detergent (or soap)
In the first stage, we fill the
bowl with cold water .
For the second stage, we need to sprinkle
pepper evenly across the surface . The pepper
flakes should float , not sink , upon the surface
of the water.
For the third stage, sprinkle detergent onto the pepper ,
just a tiny amount. If you have dish soap add just some
small drops. Most of the pepper flakes should have
darted to the sides of the bowl , and some of the flakes
should have fallen to the bottom . It may have looked like
the detergent was chasing the pepper flakes away.
Finally, we will give some explanations. The first question to
ask is why the pepper flakes float. Why don´t they sink or
dissolve in the water? . Pepper is HYDROPHOBIC. This
means that water is not attracted to it. Because of that , the
pepper can´t dissolve in water. But why do the flakes float
on top of the water? Because pepper flakes are so light and
hydrophobic , SURFACE TENSION keeps the floating on top.
The next question to think about is why the
pepper shoots to the sides when sopa touches
the water . Soap (or detergent) is able to break
down the surface tensíon of water – that´s part
of what makes soap or detergent a good cleaner.
As the soap moves into the water , and the
surface tension changes , the pepper no longer
floats on top. But the water molecules still want
to keep the surface tension going, so they pull
back away from the soap, and carry the pepper
along with them.
How do some insects walk on water?

Insects that walk on water are using the same property as

the pepper flakes on the water. The large surface area of
their feet allows their weight to be distributed in such a
way that the water´s SURFACE TENSION can overcome the
force of the insect´s body, allowing them to float and glide
on the water.
 Links
Pepper and Soap Experiment | Education
www.education.com/download-
pdf/science-fair/117340

Magic Pepper and Soap Science Experiment

funlearningforkids.com/magic-pepper-and-
soap...