Tag - Ivory Soap

Soap in the Microwave – Science Fair Project Idea

This is the perfect experiment for our motto, “Don’t do it at home, do it at a friend’s home.” Who wants to make a mess in their own microwave?

Ivory soap is one of the only soaps that float. Drop it in water and check for yourself. But how does Ivory float when most soaps sink?

For this experiment, take a new, fresh bar of Ivory soap (not one that has been sitting on the shelf for a long time). Cut it into smaller pieces and note that the bar does not have pockets of air. The air is pumped into the soap during the manufacturing process. Microwave for a minute or less and watch what happens. If you microwave the soap for a long time, it will start to turn brown and gross, so watch it while it cooks.

Now, turn this demonstration into
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Science in a Microwave Oven

The words “science experiment” and “microwave oven” don’t necessarily go hand in hand… unless you’re trying to do something amazing. As I was preparing for my Monday morning science segment on , I remembered an experiment using a bar of Ivory Soap (you know… the soap that floats) and a microwave oven. It’s the great Soap Cloud experiment where a bar of soap grows to an enormous size when you cook it in the microwave. Actually, you get a 2 for 1 experiment here because in order to understand how the growing soap trick works, you need to know that Ivory Soap is the “soap that floats”. Hmmm, floating soap, tiny pockets of air and heat sound like the perfect combo to me!

If you have Windows Media Player, take a look at the Soap in the Microwave Video.

And remember the science experimenter’s oath: Never do things like this at home… do them at a friend’s home.