This experiment’s a real gas! And you’ll see what I mean when you make a bubbly orange soda-pop that’s delicious and good for you too.
What you’ll need:
- half glass real orange juice (or lemon juice)
- half glass water
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- sugar or some other sweetener
What to do:
- Add juice to water.
- Stir in a teaspoon of baking soda. Now take a sip; add some sugar if it’s not sweet enough.
What happens:
Your homemade soda pop will be fizzy and taste like lemon or orange soda pop.
Why this happens:
All that bubbling is the result of a chemical reaction between a base and an acid. A base is a compound that gives off negatively charged hydrogen ions when dissolved in water, and an acid is a compound that gives off positively charged hydrogen ions when dissolved in water.
When you mix the baking soda (a base) with the lemon or orange juice (an acid), they react and produce a fizzy gas called carbon dioxide. (The bubbles in store-bought sodas are also created by carbon dioxide, but they’re added under pressure to water.)