When making elephant toothpaste, a fun and exciting chemical reaction occurs. The reaction typically involves mixing hydrogen peroxide (typically a high concentration, such as 30% or more), a liquid dish soap, and a catalyst such as potassium iodide or yeast.
As these substances are mixed together, the hydrogen peroxide begins to decompose rapidly into water and oxygen gas. The dish soap acts as a surfactant, creating a lot of foam by trapping the oxygen gas and water molecules together. This results in a large, fast-growing foam eruption, often resembling toothpaste coming out of a tube.
The reaction is called elephant toothpaste due to the intense foaming and the large volume of foam created, which can resemble the size of an elephant's toothpaste tube. It is commonly used as a demonstration in science experiments or educational shows to illustrate the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and the formation of foam from the released oxygen gas.
what happened when making elephant toothpaste
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