Knowledge Nugget–September 26

75% of all raisins eaten by people in the United States are eaten at breakfast. You can make raisins dance as a family. Feel free to dance along with them.

Dancing Raisins

Have you ever wondered how a grape is dried into a raisin. In late August, grapes are handpicked, laid on rows of poly paper trays in the vineyard, and allowed to dry naturally in the sun. After two to three weeks, a fresh grape becomes a sun-dried raisin. And four pounds of fresh Grapes yield one pound of raisins. 

What you need
tall clear glass
raisins
club soda (club soda needs to be fresh, this won’t work if it’s flat)

Instructions
1. Cut raisins in half.
2. Pour the club soda in the glass.
3. Drop in half of a raisin.
4. Wait at least 20 to 30 seconds and watch what happens to the raisin. (The raisin should rise and fall or ‘dancing’.)

Why is this happening?
The reason why the raisin floats to the top is because the bubbles stick to the sides of the raisin and make it more buoyant. Buoyant means that something floats more easily. The bubbles make the raising float the way a life jacket makes a person float.

Fun fact: Raisin varieties depend on the type of grape used, and are made in a variety of sizes and colors including green, black, blue, purple, and yellow. Raisins are sweet due to their high concentration of sugars.

We would love to hear what you discovered from this experiment by leaving a comment.

 

Information provided by Nationraisin.com and Wikipedia
Experiment credits kids-science-experiements.com

 

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