To further our mummy studies we mummified some apples. I originally saw the experiment here at Confessions of a Homeschooler, Homeschool Creations also did this and linked to the instructions here. We used two apples, slicing them into eight pieces. We weighed each slice.
We covered them in varying mixtures of baking soda, Epsom salts, and table salt. Skeeterbug took this picture, that’s me holding the bowl while Jitterbug uses a spoon to cover the apple in the cup.
Skeeterbug insisted on weighing each cup after the apple was covered, which had no bearing on the experiment but was fun for him.
More of Skeeterbug’s pictures. Technology, anyone? That half-eaten apple must be Jitterbug’s.
I like this one. The messy truth of science experiments at home.
We lined all our cups up on a shelf and let them sit for a week.
Then we dumped them out. Ewww!
The Epsom salts were gel-like at the end.
The best-preserved seems to be number three, pure table salt.
Number five was runner-up, a mixture of table salt and Epsom salts. I actually wasn’t going to do the Epsom salt but I found a cheap box at Aldi’s and I figure it’s good to have some at home anyway.
We did weigh each slice again to see how much they lost.
This was much less painful than mummifying a chicken as the SOTW Activity Guide called for!
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