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National Chemistry Week - Experiments - Bones in Knots

The Aim:

to tie chicken bones in knots with the help of chemical changes

What you will need:

  • 1 large jar
  • small, long, thin chicken bones, washed and clean
  • enough vinegar to cover the bones

What to do:

  1. Put the chicken bones in the vinegar for 3-4 days.

  2. Remove the soft bones from the solution and tie the bones in knots.

  3. Set the bones aside and they will dry and harden.

[IMAGE OF BONES IN KNOTS]

The vinegar chemically reacts with the bones so that they soften. The bones will then chemically react again with the carbon dioxide in the air and this will cause the bones to harden. This is a fun trick.

Calcium is what keeps our bones hard. Bones will get soft if they start to lose calcium. This can happen when a person has nutritional deficiencies or a health problem.

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