Make Starburst Cups in 6 Steps

Materials you'll need

• Paper cup
• Red and blue markers (or markers of your choice)
• Baking soda
• Egg whites
• Food coloring
• Vinegar
• Spoon
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoon

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Decorate the outside of your paper cup with markers.

Step 2: Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda to the inside of the cup.

Step 3: Add 1 tablespoon of egg whites to the cup.

Step 4: Drop in a few drops of food coloring.

Step 5: Stir the mixture together until it's combined.

Step 6: Pour in 1/4 cup of vinegar and watch the foam erupt.

Learn more

When baking soda (an alkali) and vinegar (an acid) meet, they kick off a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide gas. Normally those CO₂ bubbles pop almost instantly — but egg whites change the game. Egg whites are full of proteins that unfold and stretch around each bubble, trapping it inside a flexible film and building up a giant, stable foam dome. The more gas the reaction produces, the bigger the burst.