Dancing Raisins

So, last weekend Tater was on a science kick. Perhaps spurred by the great Mentos Experiment, he got out the book of Kid Concoctions and was on a mission to complete as many projects as possible.

We attempted to make a boat out of a soda bottle - fueled with vinegar and baking soda. It fizzed...it bubbled...it sat there. So not fun.

We tried to make a layered creation of colored water, olive oil and colored alcohol. All I can say about that one is, yuck.

Finally we had great success with the Dancing Raisins (I think the book called them Scuba Diving Raisins or something).

This was a very simple (and therefore un-screw-up-able) process. Pour club soda or other clear soda in a clear glass. Drop in a few raisins.

The bubbles from the soda grab onto the wrinkles of the raisins and in a little while, the raisins start to rise to the top of the glass. When they hit the top, the bubbles pop and they sink back down again. Sounds undramatic, but it is actually strangely mesmerizing.

The photos don't fully (OK...don't at all...) show the full effect. It is actually pretty cool.

You can add a little bit of baking soda to make things fizzier and speed the process up.

Tater watched the raisins go up and down for quite a while. After such a string of failure and disappointment, the raisin dance was a little victory.

Yay for the raisins!