Foam Explosion (In Super Slow Motion): Elephant Toothpaste

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You might have seen this wacky experiment in a chemistry class or on late-night TV. Dropping a mixture into some hydrogen peroxide produces a huge foamy flume. But what’s actually causing that big mess? Turns out it’s a great illustration of a key concept in chemistry: catalysts. In this week’s video, Reactions teams up with chemistry professor Matt Hartings, Ph.D., to explain the Elephant Toothpaste experiment (with the help of our awesome new high-speed camera).

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Music:
"Steps" by U-mix

Executive Producer:
Adam Dylewski

Writer:
Noel Waghorn

Narrator:
Sophia Cai

Video Producer:
Sean Parsons

Scientific consultant:
Matt Hartings, Ph.D.

References:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00037
http://looseinthelabscience.com/downloads/ElephantToothpaste2011.pdf
http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/outreach/kidschemistry/activities/elephant-toothpaste.pdf?_ga=1.40311077.601251532.1392750860
http://www.coolscience.org/CoolScience/KidScientists/h2o2.htm
http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/demos/main_pages/19.7.html
http://cldfacility.rutgers.edu/content/catalytic-decomposition-hydrogen-peroxide-potassium-iodide