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Demonstrate the Greenhouse Effect
You will need:
- A desk lamp with a normal (not energy saving or fluorescent) bulb in
- Two jam jars with lids
- Some vinegar
- Some bicarbonate of soda
- Two thermometers, small enough to go into the jam jars
What to do:
- Pour a couple of cm depth of vinegar into each jam jar. Add a thermometer to each jar, close the jars and place underneath the lamp for 10 minutes or so.
- What temperature does the contents of the jars reach?
- Next, add a small (less than a teaspoon) amount of bicarbonate of soda to one of the jam jars and quickly close the jar again (add too much bicarb., and you will find it all gets quite messy and also too cold, as an endothermic reaction is occuring).
- Place both jars under the lamp for another while. What temperature does each thermometer now measure?
- When vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are mixed, carbon dioxide is produced (you can demonstrate this by holding a burning match in the jam jar – it goes out, showing at least that there isn’t any oxygen left in the jam jar). Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas so, as long as your desk lamp is emitting infra-red radiation, it will warm up more than the air in the top of the other jar.
More Information
This experiment:
For a more complete version of this experiment, go to http://www.rsc.org/education/chemistryteachers/Index.asp and
type 'greenhouse' in a 'free text' search (left hand menu).
The Greenhouse Effect/ Greenhouse Gases:
Many, many sites including http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/english.html
Greenhouse Effect in the Class Room - pdf