Growing, Disappearing, and Rubberizing Gummi's

I had considered doing the expanding gummi bear experiment for a while, but never remembered to until seeing it the other day on pinterest. So while it was fresh in my head (and I was headed out of the house) I bought gummis. We ended up with dinosaurs, but I figured they would work just as well as bears.

When i asked the girls what would happen when we put the dinosaur in water they quickly remembered our naked egg experiment (Naked Eggs) and said they would grow. So I decided we would also try the vinegar and corn syrup like we did with the eggs. They thought they might grow with the vinegar and they would shrink with the corn syrup. We started with three bowls: one of water, one of vinegar, and one of corn syrup. The girls each ate a couple dinosaurs and then each chose one to put in each bowl.

Water

Vinegar

Corn Syrup

After just a few hours you could already see some changes. The dinosaurs in the water were larger. The ones in the vinegar were smaller and the vinegar was changing color. The ones in the corn syrup appeared the same.

Water

Vinegar

Corn Syrup

Left overnight you could really see changes. The dinosaurs in the water were bigger, and when you felt them they were squishy and broke apart easily. The dinosaurs in the vinegar had completely dissolved. The dinosaurs in the corn syrup still appeared the same. However when you took them out to feel them they were pretty hard and rubbery.

Water

Vinegar

Corn Syrup

So really the dinosaurs worked similar to our egg. The water flowed in by osmosis making the gummis bigger, the mild acid of vinegar dissolved them, and the corn syrup sucked out the small amount of water in them (again through osmosis) leaving behind very tough gummis. So it isn't really rubber, but it sure felt like it trying to stab it with a fork. Nadia also wanted eat them. She had a real hard time getting a bite!