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Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde's Elixir

Students will create their own Jekyll and Hyde Elixir by layering colorful oil and water inside a bottle. As they build their glow in the dark mysterious potion, they’ll also discover why these two liquids refuse to mix and how that chemistry creates the elixir’s swirling effect.

Elementary

Chemiluminesence and Immiscibility

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Project Details

Theme

October | Chemistry

Messy Level

3

Suggested Location

Lab or gym

Prep & Classroom Structure

Prep:

  • Ensure room can be dark enough to see the glow in the dark in action

  • Prepackage and pre-fill all materials per student in a ziploc bag, with the exception of any chemicals.

  • Ensure students have on aprons, goggles and gloves for safety


Classroom Structure:

  • Share video about glow sticks and what makes things glow in the dark

  • Volunteers will demo a glow in the dark elixir brought upon by certain ingredients that funnels into a flask in the dark like video below. A separate kit will be delivered to the volunteer to conduct this.




  • Students then create their own glow in the dark, oozy tumbler:


Materials

Demo

  • Flask

  • swirly tube,

  • glow in the dark kit

  • glow sticks or highlighter

  • black light/UV light

  • zinc sulfide

  • gloves

  • eye wear

  • aprons


Project

  • Tumblers

  • Green, pink or yellow glow-in-the-dark mica powder or glow pigment

  • Vegetable glycerin or baby oil

  • Distilled water jugs

  • Neon yellow/green/pink food coloring or translucent alcohol ink

  • Glitter (optional: silver, lime green, or neon yellow)

  • Squeeze bottles

  • Large syringe

  • Plastic bowls for mixing

Project Instructions

Mix the "Toxic Waste" Liquid

  1. In a separate squeeze bottle, combine distilled water with vegetable glycerin (a 50/50 mix or heavy on water with a tablespoon of glycerin helps the glitter and powder swirl slowly).

  2. Add a generous scoop or two of green and yellow glow mica powder.

  3. Add 1–2 drops of neon yellow or green food coloring/dye to get that murky, radioactive color.

  4. Mix in your choice of chunky or fine glitter for radioactive "debris".

  5. Stir or shake the liquid mixture thoroughly until the pigment is well-dispersed.

    Fill the Tumbler

  6. Use a small funnel to pour your glowing liquid mixture into the hole of the tumbler.

  7. Leave a tiny bit of air space at the top so the liquid can move and swirl.

  8. Tap the cup gently to release any trapped air bubbles.

  9. Seal the Hole

    Charge and Glow

  10. Charge the tumbler by holding it under a bright lamp, UV blacklight, or direct sunlight for a few minutes.

  11. Take it into a dark room to watch your radioactive toxic waste mixture glow.


Class Video

Please share with teacher:



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