Is it possible to give pepper a fright with dish soap? This is a simple experiment that raises many big questions. What happens? How is it possible? The pepper is frightened, that’s for sure. Try and see for yourself.

Equipment

  • A bowl
  • Water
  • Pepper
  • Dish soap

Instructions

  1. Pour some water into a bowl and sprinkle a good amount of pepper on top
  2. Pour 1 drop of dish soap right in the middle of the bowl

What happens?

Water has something called surface tension. The surface tension creates a kind of membrane on the water’s surface. You can see this membrane if you fill a glass with as much water as possible, before it begins to pour over, and the water extends slightly over the edge of the glass in a tiny dome. The pepper is pulled equally in all directions by the surface tension. Therefore it is still on the surface and does not move. When you pour dish soap into the bowl, the surface tension is lowered around the drop of soap. Now the surface tension pulls harder from the bowl’s outer edges than from the middle, and the pepper moves outwards.

 

Is it possible to give pepper a fright with dish soap? This is a simple experiment that raises many big questions. What happens? How is it possible? The pepper is frightened, that’s for sure. Try and see for yourself. Equipment A bowl Water Pepper Dish soap Instructions Pour some water into a bowl and sprinkle….Click to read more