Elephant Toothpaste Experiment Recipe Formula (2024)

FAQs

What is the formula for elephant toothpaste? ›

The large scale 'Elephant's toothpaste' demonstration uses 100 mL of 30-35% hydrogen peroxide, a squirt of dish washing liquid, and a few drops of food coloring (just for aesthetics) mixed together in a 1-L cylinder (we use non-graduated cylinders).

But you can make that reaction happen faster! How? By adding a catalyst. Yeast is an organism that contains a special chemical called catalase that can act as a catalyst to help break down hydrogen peroxide.

It's important to note that although this easy elephant toothpaste recipe is a science activity for children, it does require grown-up supervision as it uses hydrogen peroxide. We've used a low strength (3%) which isn't caustic, but can irritate skin and eyes.

The secret ingredient in Elephant Toothpaste is the catalyst in the yeast called catalase. Cells in the yeast contain catalase which breaks down or decomposes the hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water at a very fast rate.

A: If your experiment didn't work as expected, consider these factors: The yeast may not have been active. Ensure it's fresh and properly dissolved in warm water. The hydrogen peroxide concentration might be too low.

Pour the dishwashing liquid and hydrogen peroxide into your bottle. Activate the yeast by stirring in a little warm water, waiting at least 10 minutes for the yeast to “wake up”. The yeast mixture is ready when the yeast has dissolved and the liquid starts bubbling. This will be the catalyst for this reaction.

The original elephant toothpaste reaction, which uses a much higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide, can cause both chemical and thermal burns. 1 While it produces a larger amount of foam, it's not safe for kids and should be performed only by an adult using proper safety gear.

If you use the volumetric flask you can light a long match and drop it into the flask. Turn off the lights in the room, and you can see the oxygen in the flask light on fire. This will burn out shortly. Disposal: Once the foam has cooled, clean up the foam and rinse down the drain.

If you combine hydrogen peroxide, food coloring, dish soap, swell, then add water and yeast, it will make elephant toothpaste.

What happens if you add more dish soap to elephant toothpaste? ›

The oxygen gas forms bubbles. These bubbles would usually escape from the liquid and pop quickly. But, adding a little dish soap provides additional surface tension, allowing the bubbles to get trapped and creating lots of foam.

10) Note: To prepare the saturated solution of potassium iodide, dissolve 100 g of potassium iodide in 70 mL of water. You can prepare this solution ahead of time and store it for future use.

A: Examples of the Hydrogen Peroxide Content via a 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 Volume Peroxide is as follows: (Approximately): 10 Volume = 3% Peroxide, 20 Volume = 6 % Peroxide30 Volume = 9 % Peroxide, 40 Volume = 12 % Peroxide and a 50 Volume = 15% Peroxide.

A: If your experiment didn't work as expected, consider these factors: The yeast may not have been active. Ensure it's fresh and properly dissolved in warm water. The hydrogen peroxide concentration might be too low.