Cola, ginger ale, seltzer water—these are all fun drinks because they're full of bubbles that tickle your throat when you drink them. And they can make you burp! But these drinks are fun in other ways, too!

QUESTION

What makes raisins dance in a glass of fizzy water?

WHAT YOU NEED

• Can of clear soda—seltzer water or a lemon-lime soda works well

• Tall see-through glass

• Handful of raisins

WHAT TO DO

• Fill the glass three-quarters of the way with soda.

• Slip the raisins into the glass, one at a time.

• What happens to the raisins?

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Soda water has more than just water in it. It has C02, a gas that creates the bubbles you see in the soda. When you dropped the raisins into the glass, they sank to the bottom and became coated in bubbles. This is because the surface of a raisin has little pockets. Those pockets trap bubbles of air that grab some of the carbon dioxide in the soda. The bubbles cause the raisins to rise to the top of the glass. Once the raisins reach the top of the glass, the bubbles pop, the carbon dioxide is released, and the raisins sink back to the bottom. The bubbles act like a life jacket, making the raisins more buoyant, which allows them to float and sink. If your raisins aren't sinking, give them a little tap to knock off the bubbles.

YOUR NOTES

Draw a picture of your be-bopping raisins.

What other foods could you use in this experiment? How about uncooked pasta or lemon seeds? What happens?

Way to Glow!

Mix together oxalate ester and fluorescent dye, add some hydrogen peroxide and shake. Something really amazing happens! What? You don't know what these chemicals are? Maybe not, but you have probably done this experiment more than once! Break the Letter Shift code to learn when that was.