The Ivory Soap Experiment

Visualize gas expanding, right before your very eyes.

Materials You'll Need:

A Bar of Ivory Soap
A Bowl

Questions and Things to Notice

Ivory brand soap is full of millions of air bubbles. This was actually a mistake when Ivory soap was invented, but it turned out to be helpful in the bath tub (Ivory soap floats!). In this experiment, by heating up a bar of Ivory soap, we'll be able to visualize exactly what happens when a gas is heated.

Procedure

Step 1

Place the bar of soap in the bowl. The bowl should be microwave safe and big enough to hold about one liter of liquid.
Step 2

Place the bowl in the microwave and microwave it for two minutes. What's happening?
Step 3

After the two minutes has ended, do not immediately take the bowl out of the microwave. Wait five minutes first and then remove it, when the foam has cooled.
Step 4

As an added bonus, you can still use the soap! It makes a great bubble bath.