MEREDITH: WELCOME BACK. YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ARE BRUSHING YOUR TEETH AND THE TOOTHPASTE BECOMES REALLY FOAMY IN YOUR MOUTH? THAT’S BECAUSE OF A CHEMICAL REACTION AND IN THIS WEEK’S SCIENCE OF IT, WE ARE WATCHING A SIMILAR REACTION TAKE PLACE. JASON: BUT, THIS IS TOOTHPASTE YOU DO NOT WANT IN YOUR MOUTH. WESH 2’S ALEX ALECCI IS AT THE ORLANDO SCIENCE CENTER SHOWING US HOW TO MAKE ELEPHANT’S TOOTHPASTE. REPORTER: HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE SCIENCE OF IT AT THE ORLANDO SCIENCE CENTER. WE HAVE SAFETY EQUIPMENT. YOU KNOW IT IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING. >> DO YOU NORMALLY HAVE ALL THIS STUFF AROUND WHEN YOU GOING TO BRUSH HER TEETH? WE ARE GOING TO MAKE ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE. NORMALLY, YOU DO NOT HAVE A SET UP LIKE THIS WHEN YOU BRUSH YOUR TEETH. CANNOT PRESSURE TEETH LIKE THIS, WE CALL IT ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE BECAUSE IT GETS BIG AND FOAMY. LIKE FOR AN ELEPHANT. REPORTER: WHAT ARE WE MAKING? >> WHAT WE ARE DOING IS A SIMPLE CHEMICAL REACTION. WE ARE GOING TO START WITH HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN BEFORE. USE IT FOR DISINFECTING, CLEANING. THE CHEMICAL FORMULA FOR HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IS H TWO 02. IT MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH SOMETHING ELSE. REPORTER: WATER. >> WE WILL BE BREAKING DOWN THIS H2O TO INTO H2O AND TO OXYGEN. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE NORMALLY DECAYS SLOWLY. IF YOU ADD A BOTTLE OF THIS AND HAVE IT IN YOUR CABINET FOR FINN — 410 TO 15 YEARS, IT WILL NOT BE AS STRONG AS BEFORE BECAUSE THE HYDROGEN WILL BREAK DOWN INTO WATER AND OXYGEN. WE ARE GOING TO SPEED THAT UP. REPORTER: HOW? >> SOMETHING CALLED SODIUM IODIDE. I HAVE THAT IN THIS CONTAINER. WHAT THAT DOES IS ACT LIKE A CATALYST. IT IS GOING TO SPEED UP OUR REACTION. INSTEAD OF HAPPENING SLOWLY, IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN FAST. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, IT IS GOING TO RELEASE NOT ONLY A BUNCH OF OXYGEN, BUT A BUNCH OF HEAT. IT IS GOING TO PRODUCE A LOT OF GAS, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THAT GAS WARM. IN ORDER TO MAKE THAT SEEM BIG AND FOAMY, I’VE GOT SOMETHING THAT I KNOW YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH. REPORTER: DISH SOAP. >> YOU ARE RIGHT. WE HAVE THIS DISH SOAP TO MAKE A BUNCH OF BUBBLES. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE THAT GAS, CATCH IT IN BUBBLES WITH SOAP AND THIS REACTION IS CONSIDERED AN EXOTHERMIC REACTION, MEANING IT CREATES A LOT OF HEAT. YOU EVER SEEN A HOT AIR BALLOON GOING UP? IT IS SORT OF THE SAME THING. IT EXPANDS AND HOPEFULLY MAKE A BIG, FOAMING MESS EVERYWHERE. WE ARE GOING TO DO OUR EXPERIMENT SMALL SCALE SO WE GET AN IDEA OF WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. THEN, A BIG MESS EVERYWHERE. FIRST, WE ARE GOING TO GET HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. WE ARE GOING TO ADD THAT INTO OUR BEAKER. WE CAN JUST DO IT LIKE THIS, I AM GOING TO MAKE IT MORE FUN AND ADD FOOD COLORING. FOR OUR FIRST SMALL-SCALE ONE, LET’S DO IT IN RED. A LITTLE RED FOOD COLORING. GOING TO ADD IN DISH SOAP. SWIRL EVERYTHING AROUND, LET’S GET IT MIXED UP NICE. ALL RIGHT, WE’VE GOT OUR HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, FOOD COLORING AND ISSUE SOAP MIXED GET IT WE SEE OUR SODIUM IODIDE. YOU WANT TO COUNT ME DOWN? REPORTER: 3, 2, 1. WOAH. [LAUGHTER] >> AS YOU CAN SEE, THAT OXYGEN GAS IS BEING MADE. AS IT IS HEATING UP AND EXPANDING, THE FOAM IS GOING EVERYWHERE. WE HAVE A NICE, LOVELY AMOUNT OF — REPORTER: ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE. YOU CAN TELL IT IS HOT BECAUSE THERE IS STEAM COMING OFF OF IT. >> WE ARE GOING TO TAKE IT UP A NOTCH. WE NEED NEXT LEVEL SAFETY GEAR. I AM GOING TO BE NICE AND UP CLOSE. I’VE GOT MY THERMAL LOVES. THERE WAS STEAM COMING OFF THAT, WE DO THIS EVEN BIGGER, THERE IS GOING TO BE EVEN MORE STEAM. I THOUGHT MY GOGGLES WERE NOT STYLISH ENOUGH. I AM GOING TO TAKE IT UP A NOTCH WITH THIS LOVELY FACE SHIELD. IT IS GOING TO KEEP ME PROTECTED. WE DID READ, SO WE WILL DO LOU. I’M GOING TO MAKE A MESS. SCIENCE CAN GET MESSY SOMETIMES. REPORTER: THAT IS WHY WE DO IT OUTSIDE. >> LET ME TAKE A STEP BACK. YOU’VE GOT THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB OF ALL, YOU’VE GOT TO COUNT ME DOWN. DO IT FROM FIVE. REPORTER: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [LAUGHTER] >> THERE YOU HAVE IT. REPORTER: THAT IS AWESOME. >> ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE AT THE ORLANDO SCIENCE CENTER. REPORTER: IF PEOPLE WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EXPERIMENTS LIKE THIS AND THE SCIENCE CENTER, WHERE CAN THEY GO? >> OUR WEBSITE, OSC.ORG, YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT THESE ACTIVITIES AND OUR SCHEDULE TO SEE DEMONSTRATIONS AND SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS AT THE ORLANDO SCIENCE CENTER — SCIENCE CENTER. JASON: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE OTHER COOL STUFF THEY HAVE AT THE ORLANDO SCIEN

The Science of It: Elephant toothpaste

See a fun chemistry experiment in this week’s The Science of It

Updated: 11:23 AM EST Mar 8, 2023

See a fun chemistry experiment in this week’s The Science of It.

See a fun chemistry experiment in this week’s The Science of It.