Elephant Toothpaste

March 26, 2021

Branden Carnate
Emily Zander
Science, 6

Abstract :
The purpose of my experiment is to test and see what amount of yeast will make the
elephant toothpaste shoot the highest and react the fastest. My hypothesis was that the Bottle B, holding 2
tablespoons of yeast, will react the fastest and shoot the highest.This experiment only took one day and
was easy to do . The experiment was a little messy but also fun at the same time. At the end of the
experiment my hypothesis was not supported. Bottle A, having 1 tablespoon of yeast, reacts the fastest and
shoots the highest. It shot an average of 1.23 centimeters and reacted on an average 2.66 seconds. Bottle
C shot the highest during the experiment, but it took a long time to react. Making Bottle C last place.

Introduction :

My experiment is about elephant toothpaste. Elephant toothpaste is a decomposition

of hydrogen peroxide using yeast and warm water as a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance
that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without any change. Elephant toothpaste is
everywhere online and is very fun to create.Elephant toothpaste is when hydrogen peroxide
and yeast break down forming oxygen and reacting as a foamy substance. The question the
experiment tried to answer was what amount of yeast will make the elephant toothpaste
react the fastest and shoot the highest. This question is very interesting because this shows
what will make the elephant toothpaste more fun. The idea of this experiment was from
online videos of people making elephant toothpaste. A lot of well-known youtubers have
done this. Millions of people have watched Mark Rober make elephant toothpaste before.
Mark Rober is a former Nasa engineer who makes videos on Youtube. He has 17.6 million
subscribers on Youtube. He has filled a whole pool with elephant toothpaste. This is where
my question formed about my science experiment.

Materials and Methods:

Materials:

● 3 16 fluid ounce bottles

● dry yeast
● warm water
● 1 funnel
● 2 liquid dish soap
● 3% hydrogen peroxide
● measuring cups,
● measuring spoons
● 1 safety goggles
● 1 large box
● 1 food coloring
 ● 1 timer
● 1 yardstick

Procedures
1. Put the large box on the ground
2. But the bottle on the box and make sure it is standing up
3. Put the funnel on the top of the bottle
4. Next, measure ½ of a cup of hydrogen peroxide and pour it into the bottle
5. Then, measure ¼ of a cup of liquid dish soap and pour it into the bottle
6. Then, add five through ten drops of food coloring.
7. Then, in a separate cup measure 1 tablespoon dry yeast.
8. Next, add 3 tablespoons of water
9. Stir the mixture together and wait five minutes
10. When five minutes is up pour the yeast mixture into the bottle
11. Make sure to collect the height and use the timer to see how fast it reacted

*The amount of yeast will be different with each separate bottle.

The way I got the average results of the reaction and the height is adding each bottle amount of
each bottle and dividing it by 3. That is what you call finding the mean.

Data: :

Bottle A/1 tbsp Bottle B/2 tbsp Bottle C/3 tbsp

Trial 1 Height 1.2 inches 1 inch 1.5 inches
Trial 2 Height 1 inch 3 inches 1.5 inches
Trial 3 Height 1.5 inches 2 inches 1.5 inches
Average 1.23 inches 2 inches 1.5 inches

Bottle A/1 tbsp Bottle B/2 tbsp Bottle C/3tbsp

Trial 1 Speed 3 seconds 5 seconds 3 seconds
Trial 2 Speed 3 seconds 4 seconds 5 seconds
Trial 3 Speed 2 seconds 3 seconds 5 seconds
Average 2.66 seconds 4 seconds 4.33 seconds

Discussion:

The hypothesis for the experiment was that Bottle B will react the highest and
shoot the highest. But, the hypothesis was wrong. Bottle A reacted the fastest and shot the
highest.This might have happened because of how the yeast reacts quickly releasing
oxygen. There were errors in my experiment. One, I had to reuse the bottle constantly
because it would always leak and break.

When the experiment first started, the videos on YouTube had much bigger
results, but when the experiment was finished the videos used hydrogen iodide. Instead of
hydrogen peroxide, the experiment should have used hydrogen iodide instead. The
experiment should have used bigger bottles because the smaller bottles always broke and
always leaked.

This error could have been avoided by doing more research and watching
more videos about elephant toothpaste. Also, the yeast mixture should have been carefully
poured into the bottles.. Every time the yeast mixture was poured into the bottle it would
always spill and go all over the place.For the rest of the time the experiment was very easy.

Conclusion:

The results are accurate for home experiments. The hypothesis was wrong. Bottle
A reacted the fastest and shot the highest because the yeast reacted quick enough to
become oxygen. Also, the reason why Bottle B and C didn’t react the fastest was because
the yeast went all over the place every time the yeast mixture was poured. Instead of seeing
how fast it reacted the hypothesis should have been how much yeast will make the elephant
toothpaste will shoot the highest. Overall the experiment went well.

Personal Reflection:

During the experiment this was really fun to do. My sister enjoyed watching the reaction and
was really cool and satisfying. I enjoyed this experiment and learning how elephant toothpaste
reacts.
Bibliography:

1. “Elephant Toothpaste Experiments with Mark Rober!” ScienceBob.com, 30 Jan.

2021, sciencebob.com/elephant-toothpaste-experiments-with-mark-rober/.

2.Buddies, Science. “Make Elephant Toothpaste.” Scientific American, Scientific

American, 1 Aug. 2019,
www.scientificamerican.com/article/make-elephant-toothpaste/.

3.“Elephant's Toothpaste.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Mar. 2021,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant%27s_toothpaste.

4. Hart, Matthew. “NASA Engineer Sets Elephant Toothpaste Fountain World Record.”
Nerdist, 21 Sept. 2020,
nerdist.com/article/tallest-ever-elephant-toothpaste-fountain-world-record/.