KS4 Chemists - Making Elephant Toothpaste

Last Monday, our wonderful KS4 chemists made an elephant toothpaste! It is so called because the chemical reaction produces a large foamy mess that looks like toothpaste being squeezed from a tube- but so big, it must be for elephants. The aim of this experiment was to find out which method gives the best elephant toothpaste.

For the first method, they mixed dry yeast, warmed water and hydrogen peroxide and noticed that there was a small reaction. They then combined baking soda and vinegar and observed a bigger and faster reaction. They then added hydrogen peroxide to potassium iodide and concluded that this was by far the best method, the reaction was not only very rapid but also very foamy and huge! This activity enabled them to reinforce their understanding of catalysts and their importance in chemical reactions.  

A massive thank you to our amazing Y12 scientists: Roberto and Yasmin for their help