How to Make a Glowing Rubber Egg?

This Bouncing Glowing Rubber Egg teaches you how to make a rubber egg that can glow in the dark. No kids can resist this Easter egg idea, I think. The required material is quite simple, being found in almost every home.

Ages: 3+        Est. Time: < 24 hours

 Safety 

1. Do not eat the egg in this experiment.
2. Adult supervision.

 Materials List 

• Highlighter
• Vinegar 60ml
• Egg
• Beaker
• Blacklight source
• Bouncing Glowing Rubber egg

 Instruction 

Step 1/3 – Pour 60ml of vinegar into the glass. Take out the refill from the highlighter, put the refill into the vinegar and give it a stir.

Step 2/3 – Put the egg into the cup and let it completely immerse in the vinegar.

 Step 3/3 – You will find a lot of small bubbles coming out of the eggshell. Let it in the vinegar for one day before the eggshell is completely dissolved. Wash away the layer of brown scum around the egg and you have a soft, bendable, squeeze-able, rubber egg.

 Troubleshooting 

Why my egg still has its shell?

Make sure you leave it in vinegar for one day and the concentration of the vinegar is relative high.

Why does my egg fail to glow?

Make sure you use the highlighter to dye the egg and see it under the black light.

 Scientific description 

The main component of the eggshell is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) similar to our bones, which reacts with vinegar to form calcium acetate and carbon dioxide. When you put the egg in the vinegar, there are bubbles coming out of the eggshell, which turns out to be the reaction product, carbon dioxide. After one day, you can find that there is some solid under the bottom of the beaker, which is also the reaction product, calcium carbonate.  Some of the water with the highlighter ink went through the membrane into the egg and caused it to swell, dyed, and glow. The process that the water and ink go into the egg through the egg called osmosis.

 Extensions 

You can make different colored eggs at Easter.