Does anyone know a safe exploding experiment for kids?

Question

Please nothing to difficult.

Answer 1

When I was in Explorers, some Boy Scouts used a short section of heavy-walled pipe and an ignition source (like a piezo-electric lighter for a gas grille).

They welded the pipe to a flat plate on one end and left the other end open, but you could drive the pipe into the soil if you don't have access to a welder.

Whichever way you go, install and test the ignition source before adding fuel. You should hear a clicking sound, and you should be able either to see the spark or tell that there is a spark being made.

Gasoline can be introduced either as a mist or as a liquid (don't let it wet the igniter). Even in warm weather, if it goes in as a liquid, you'll have to wait a few seconds for it to vaporize (make enough fumes) sufficiently.

The really neat thing about this experiment is that it lets you demonstrate the difference between "(combustion/ combustability/ flammability) limits in air" and "(explosive/ explosion) limits in air" -- the latter being a comparatively narrow band of concentrations usually between the maximum and minimum concentrations required for combustion (fire).

The experiment can be simply modified to use an ignited candle as the ignition source, and dust as the fuel.

THIS EXPERIMENT IS OBSCENELY LOUD!

BE CAREFUL AND WEAR DEVICES TO PROTECT YOUR EARS AND YOUR EYES. DO NOT ALLOW FOREIGN MATERIALS INTO THE COMBUSTION ENVIRONMENT.

DO NOT PLACE THE EXPERIMENT UNDER ANYTHING THAT MIGHT CATCH ON FIRE OR BE DAMAGED BY AN EXPLOSIVE BLAST. DO NOT PLACE ANYTHING OVER THE TOP OF THE PIPE (COMBUSTION CHAMBER). DETONATE REMOTELY.

With adequate precautions taken, this experiment should be plenty safe for children ages 4-7. Do not reduce attention to safety for older children: the "7" simply indicates older children are going to want a lot more "effect" and should be competent to handle more more powerful experiments.

Answer 2

get a pack of mentos , a tube that the mentos would fit in and not jiggle too much plus all have to fit in the tube but come out easy you would also need a note card and a 2 liter bottle of coke

now put all the mentos in the tube take the cap off the coke put the note car on the opening of the tube you have the mints in now line up the tube with the opening of the coke bottle there has to be coke in it by the way and slide the card out and the mentos should glide right into the coke and the minty chalkyness of the mentos will make the coke erupt out of the bottle about twenty feet in the air it is awsome

Answer 3

Get a nut and two bolts to fit. Screw one bolt halfway along the thread of the nut. Scrape the heads of about three matches into the nut, then screw in the other bolt tightly. Throw it down onto concrete so the head of one of the nuts strikes the concrete. A game I used to play when teaching science was called minefield. You sprinkle iodine crystals on a piece of filter paper. You pour .880 ammonia on it and leave overnight to dry. The ammonia reacts with the iodine crystals to make a very unstable explosive compound; ammonium triiodide. The slightest vibration will set it off. The kids would put slaters on the filter paper and as it walked across the paper a crystal would explode and blow it to smithereens.

Answer 4

Oh my gosh! I'm so glad you asked! My kids just did this one last weekend. Get a 2 litre bottle of Coke and a tube of Mentos (ya know the fresh maker.) Pop as many of the Mentos into the 2 litre bottle as you can before the sucker explodes. If you do it just right and get the whole tube of Mentos in the bottle it is supposed to go like 30 feet. We didn't get more than five or six of them in before the thing shot up. Try it! It is way cheaper than fireworks.

Answer 5

I'm not sure this counts, but make like a volcano or sumthing and put vinegar and baking soda together?

Also put coke in the freezer. After a few days or week it should explode.

Answer 6

I did a youth lesson once where I bought "flash paper" from a magician store. It can be a little costly, but it's what they use when they make a flash appear from out of their hand. I crumpled some up, threw it in a can, then threw in a match...got hot, made a big flash, but it's really not at all dangerous (as long as nobody puts their face in the can).

Answer 7

Get them to explore the dinamics of a fire cracker. What makes it explode, what happens to the paper surrounding the fire cracker when the explosion occurs, how is the fuse made, what makes the fire cracker make a loud noise when it explodes. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Not particularly no. The flame could reach the nozzle and since thats generally made of plastic, that could catch fire and then heat up the can around it which could cause it to explode. Aerosols aren't really made to be used as flamethrowers.

Answer 9

Drop a roll of Mentos mints into a bottle of cola. (Usually it's helpful to take the mints out of their roll and make a paper tube so you can drop them into the bottle quickly). This experiment will cause the cola to erupt everywhere, so it's best to do it outdoors. Have fun!

Answer 10

A tiny piece of sodium in water. Fizzes a bit then BAM!!!!!!!!

Start with really small pieces. Then burn some magnesium maybe.
Future Chemists being made maybe.