Kids Experiments With Vinegar & Lightbulbs

Use a lemon to make a light bulb glow.

Although there are a few experiments you can do using a combination of vinegar and light bulbs, vinegar and electricity, as a combination, can be dangerous if not supervised correctly. Both contain properties that can cause a mild explosive result, so it's sensible to keep the two apart when getting kids involved. Kids' experiments are great fun and are also educational, and the more involvement they have in experimenting, the more knowledge they accumulate.

Oil and Vinegar

Use a small plastic drink bottle that has a cap. Pour in a little vinegar so it's about 1 inch up the side of the bottle. Add a drop of food coloring; any color will do, it's just to ensure the vinegar is clearly visible. Give the bottle a little shake to mix the food coloring with the vinegar. Pour an equal amount of cooking oil into the bottle. Put on the bottle top, and shake the bottle. Watch as the two ingredients initially mix, then gradually separate again. The oil floats on top, as it has less density. Turn the bottle upside down; the oil rises to the top of the liquid.

Oil and Vinegar Emulsion

The previous experiment demonstrated that oil and vinegar don't mix for long. However, if you add a third ingredient to the oil and vinegar, you can make them mix permanently; it's known as an emulsifying ingredient. Put an egg in a bowl, then whisk it briefly so the white and the yolk combine. Pour the vinegar and oil mixture from the bottle into the bowl. Whisk all of the ingredients together. Gradually you will see the oil and vinegar mix with the egg to form an emulsion. You can't distinguish the three ingredients. The liquid thickens, effectively gluing the molecules in the vinegar and the oil together permanently.

Lemon Power

Put a copper nail and a steel nail into a lemon about 1 inch apart. Attach a strip of wire to the tops of the nails. Get a small flashlight bulb and put the ends of the wires from the nails onto the terminals on the flashlight bulb. The bulb will illuminate, although it may not be very bright and won't last long. The two different metals act as positive and negative electrodes, while the acid and sugar in the lemon provide the electrical energy.

Light Bulb Circuit

Attach the end of a couple of wires to the terminals on a battery; one to the "-" terminal and the other to the "+" terminal. Use a strip of tape to hold the wires on the terminals. Attach the other ends of the two wires to a small light bulb; use tape as before. The light illuminates, because you have made a complete circuit. The flow of electricity goes from the "+" terminal on the battery through the light bulb and back to the "-" terminal on the battery. Get a pair of scissors and cut the wire anywhere in the circuit. The light goes out because the circuit is broken. Touch the ends of the two cut wires together, and the light illuminates.

Tags: ends wires, about inch, flashlight bulb, food coloring, light bulb, light illuminates