According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, a blizzard is defined as severe winter weather characterized by strong winds (40 km/hr or greater) with heavy or blowing snow, resulting in reduced visibility of 400 metres or less for at least four hours.
In this experiment, learn how to make your own snowstorm in a jar with SRC and Wowl STEAM Lab using common items found around your kitchen.
Disclaimer
While every reasonable effort is made to provide experiments that are safe, adult supervision is recommended at all times when experiments are performed. Safety gear, such as gloves and glasses, may be required.
ingredients
- Empty jar
- Baby oil
- Effervescent tablets
- Large measuring cup
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup white paint
- Glitter
- Spoon
INstructions
- Set up an empty jar on a tray and pour baby oil to 2/3 of the jar.
- Mix water with white paint in your measuring cup.
- Pour the paint mixture into the jar.
- Add some glitter to your jar for extra fun.
- Drop one effervescent tablet into the jar. (You can also break the tablet in half). Now watch the snowstorm!
- When it stops, add more tablets to reactivate the snowstorm!
Done the experiment? Download your Honourary Scientist Certificate!
How it Works
Oil is less dense than water, so the paint mixture stays at the bottom of the jar. When we drop effervescent tablets into the jar, the interaction with the water creates upward pressure, and the oil pushes it back down. Another important element in the experiment is sodium bicarbonate in the tablets, which creates carbon dioxide gas when mixed with water. The combination of these factors creates a cool snowstorm!
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