Activity overview
Do you think it is possible to mold milk into a ball? Try this easy at home experiment to find out for yourself. Young scientists would benefit from adult assistance with this experiment because some heating is involved and substances might be hot. It is fascinating for the entire family to watch this experiment unfold.
Materials Needed
- A bowl
- A strainer
- A Spoon
- 4 teaspoons of white vinegar
- 1 cup of milk
Kids will need adult assistance for this experiment
How You Do It
- Ask an adult to heat up the milk in a saucepan until it is hot but not boiling.
- Have the adult pour the hot milk into the bowl carefully.
- Add the 4 teaspoons of vinegar to the milk and stir thoroughly with a spoon.
- Carefully pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the sink; use caution as the mixture is still hot
- Gooey white blobs will be left behind in the strainer.
- Let the white gooey blobs cool and then rinse them gently with cool water.
- You should now be able to squish the precipitate into moldable masses. Mold them into the shapes that you would like and let them sit overnight and they should harden.
Scientific Explanation
You just made a substance called Casein which means cheese in Latin. Casein occurs when the proteins in the milk come in contact with the acid in the vinegar. The Casein in the milk does not mix with the acid and therefore it forms blobs.
