How to Make a Liquid That Changes Color When Heated — Scientific Adventures in the Kitchen

Petya and Lena were back in the kitchen. This time, they decided to try something unusual. Lena had found an old science book and showed Petya an interesting experiment. It turned out that you could create a liquid that changes color depending on the temperature!

— What do you think, Petya, if we mix a few ingredients, can we make a liquid that changes its color when heated? — Lena asked, pointing to a picture in the book.

Petya was immediately interested.

— That sounds like magic! I’ve always seen liquids change color, but I thought that only happened in cartoons. But if we can do it ourselves, that would be awesome! — he said, looking at the book.

Lena smiled.

— Of course, it’s not magic, it’s real chemistry! And all we need are a few simple ingredients. We’ll use blue cabbage juice — it has a unique ability to change color with changes in pH and temperature.

Petya listened attentively. He didn’t know that blue cabbage juice could be such a powerful chemical substance capable of changing color. Lena continued:

— We’ll also use a few other additives to enhance the effect. It just takes a bit of heat, and we’ll see the liquid change right before our eyes!

And so, Petya and Lena began preparing their magical liquid. Lena got the blue cabbage juice she had prepared earlier and poured it into a transparent jar. Petya brought a bowl of hot water and a few cups for the different chemicals.

— Now, we need to add a little baking soda to one cup and a little lemon juice to the other. Watch how the liquid changes when we add these substances, — Lena said, holding a packet of baking soda.

Petya watched closely as his sister added the baking soda to the water. As it mixed with the liquid, the process started immediately. The molecules of the blue pigments in the cabbage began to change, and the color shifted depending on which substance entered the solution.

— And now let’s see what happens when we heat this liquid, — suggested Lena. She placed the jar of liquid on the stove and turned on a small flame.

— Look, the color is starting to change! — said Petya, noticing how the liquid slowly lost its blue color and began turning pink. — This is amazing! It’s like magic tricks with colors!

Petya was thrilled. Lena smirked:

— This isn’t magic, it’s chemistry! We just saw how temperature affects substances. When the liquid heats up, the color changes because the molecules of the substance start moving faster and react to the temperature changes.

Petya continued watching as the liquid changed color. He noticed that on the hot stove, the liquid became increasingly pink, and then turned blue again when it cooled down.

— Do you understand what’s happening, Petya? This is actually a very complex process, — explained Lena. — When we heat the liquid, the pigment molecules in the blue cabbage juice start to change their structure. And that causes them to change color.

— So we’re actually controlling the molecules by heating them? — asked Petya, trying to understand how something so simple could make the molecules change like that.

Lena nodded.

— Exactly! That’s the basis of chemical reactions, when substances change their properties in response to external factors like temperature. This experiment isn’t just fun, it’s also a great way to learn about chemistry!

After finishing the experiment, Lena and Petya decided to repeat the same experiment with other liquids to see how they changed with temperature fluctuations.

They poured other liquids into jars, such as lemon juice and water with baking soda, and were amazed to see how their colors also changed depending on the temperature. Every time the liquid cooled down, it changed its shade, but when heated, it returned to its original state.

— This is just incredible! We just did a real chemistry experiment, and it turned out to be way more exciting than we thought, — said Petya, smiling.

Lena agreed:

— Of course, because chemistry is the science that explains how substances behave in nature. Do you now understand how important it is to know how liquids behave with temperature changes?

The kids were happy with their experiment. Not only had they learned something new, but they also understood how chemistry could create amazing effects. Now they knew that they could conduct real scientific experiments in the kitchen, turning ordinary things into an exciting journey into the world of science!