Ministry of Education Grade 12

Red Sea STEM School Experiment Report

Elephant Toothpaste Experiment

Class (3/A)
Kerollos Peter Lamie
Makariuos Tharwat Noshy
Objectives
 Observing several examples of chemical and physical reactions
 Carrying out the decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide
 Describing and illustrating the changes of the hydrogen peroxide chemical reaction.

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Key-Terms
 Chemical Reaction
 Physical Reaction
 Catalyst
 Exothermic Reaction
 Explosion
 Decomposition Reaction

Introduction
Today you get to make a cool explosion happen that looks like toothpaste an elephant
would use. For this simple reaction, we will mix hydrogen peroxide and liquid soap. Then, we
will add a catalyst to the mixture. This will help speed up the reaction by making hydrogen
peroxide turn into oxygen and water. The water will then mix with the soap and makes foam,
while the oxygen builds up pressure and pushes it out of the container. You will see foam
shooting out like fireworks in a color of your choice. This colored explosion will illustrate
what chemistry can do for fun. Enjoy, Please!

Safety
 Always wear your safety glasses while doing this experiment.
 Don't look straight down into the graduated cylinder while the reaction is occurring.
 Don't move the graduated cylinder while the reaction is occurring.
 Be careful the reaction is exothermic.
 Oxygen is evolved in this reaction, so do not perform this demonstration near an open
flame.
 Leave your gloves on following the demonstration to aid with cleanup.

Materials
The chemical reaction in this demonstration is between the hydrogen peroxide and the
potassium iodide solution. The detergent captures the gases to make bubbles. Note the hydrogen
peroxide solution is much more concentrated than the kind you can buy at a pharmacy. You can
find 30 percent peroxide at a beauty supply store, science supply store, or online.

 50-100 ml of 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution

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  Safety goggles and gloves

Procedures
 Put on gloves and safety goggles. The iodine from the reaction may stain surfaces so you
might want to cover your workspace with an open garbage bag or a layer of paper towels.
 Pour ~50 mL of 30% hydrogen peroxide solution into the graduated cylinder.
 Squirt in a little dishwashing detergent and swirl it around.
 You can place 5-10 drops of food coloring along the wall of the cylinder to make the foam
resemble striped toothpaste.
 Add ~10 mL of potassium iodide solution. Do not lean over the cylinder when you do this,
as the reaction is very vigorous, and you may get splashed or possibly burned by steam.
 You may touch a glowing splint to the foam to relight it, indicating the presence of oxygen.
 Enjoy this Scene.

Time Required
The reaction is instantaneous. Set-up can be completed in under half an hour.

Variations
 You can add 5 grams of starch to the hydrogen peroxide. When the potassium iodide is
added, the resulting foam will have light and dark patches from the reaction of some of the
starch to form triiodide.
 You can use yeast instead of potassium iodide. Foam is produced more slowly, but you can
add a fluorescent dye to this reaction to produce elephant toothpaste that will glow very
brightly under a black light.

Chemistry Talk
The overall equation for this reaction is:
2 H2O2(aq) → 2 H2O(l) + O2(g)
However, the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen is catalyzed by
the iodide ion.
H2O2(aq) + I-(aq) → OI-(aq) + H2O(l)
H2O2(aq) + OI-(aq) → I-(aq) + H2O(l) + O2(g)
The dishwashing detergent captures the oxygen as bubbles. Food coloring can color the
foam. The heat from this exothermic reaction is such that the foam may steam. If the

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 demonstration is performed using a plastic bottle, you can expect slight distortion of the
bottle from the heat.

Recommendation
The demonstration is suitable for all age groups, particularly to raise interest in science and
chemical reactions. Because the hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizer and because heat is
generated by the reaction, the demonstration is best performed by a science teacher with
chemical experience. It should not be performed by unsupervised children.

Acknowledgement
I cannot express my full thanks, but hopefully these words are a start. We all are thankful for
Allah the most merciful. I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher
(Mrs. Kholoud El-Samman) for all the things she had done, both big and small.

References

Websites:
The Elephant's Toothpaste Experiment. (2016, January 16). Retrieved from
https://sciencebob.com/fantastic-foamy-fountain/
Danielle, & Clare. (2018, February 11). Elephant Toothpaste. Retrieved from
http://coolscienceexperimentshq.com/elephant-toothpaste/

Articles:
Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2019, January 13). Elephant Toothpaste Chemistry
Demonstration. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/elephant-toothpaste-chemistry-
demonstration-604250

Books:
Zumdahl, S. S., Zumdahl, S. L., & DeCoste, D. J. (2013). World of chemistry. Belmont, CA:
Brooks/Cole/Cengage Learning.

“Even LOVE is a Chemical Reaction” Suzy Kassem (Writer & Author)

Thanks for your interest

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