Black Snakes (Creative Chemistry Experiments)

You will need:

1. Bowl
2. Alcohol or fuel oil
3. Baking soda
4. Sugar (preferably
   powdered sugar
5. Lighter

Even though the name sounds scary yet this experiment is quite a lot of fun. Black snakes or glow worms, as they are also called, are small tablets, which when ignited produce long black snakes of ash.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix 4 teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar with 1 teaspoonful of baking soda.
2. Take a bowl and put the mixture of sugar and baking soda into it.
3. Pour alcohol into the mixture.
4. Place the bowl outside on the ground.
5. Request an adult to take a long lighter and ignite the mixture in the bowl.

RESULT

Initially, the mixture in the bowl is only a flame, with small blackened balls. But once the reaction gets going, the carbon dioxide that is created, puffs up carbonate which gives the illusion of a continuous black snake.