Everyone in the classroom or at the science fair knows about the classic “Build Your Own Volcano” test. More than 99.99 percent of the time, it’s a fun way to teach kids chemistry.
However, with the wrong ingredients and too much vinegar, these volcanoes can turn into a poorly drawn time bomb. A teacher and 59 others were injured after a volcanic eruption erupted and at Holy Family High School in the southern city of Kochi, the Times of India reported. The two children had to be taken to hospital with injuries to their hands and eyes, although thankfully their condition is stable.
If you haven’t slept in elementary school you know that the experiment uses a chemical reaction to create vinegary foam between baking soda and vinegar that flies off the top of the bottle like lava pouring out of a volcano.
Four students presented their model volcano outside the school grounds. It is believed that one student placed pebbles and pieces of tile in their model to give the volcano some more authenticity. Although the exact cause of the explosion is not known, it is thought that pressure was created in the clay-covered model. The explosions shattered the tile and gravel into pieces like nail bombs.
Headmistress of the school Sr Sany Jose told The Times of India, “It is suspected that the mud cover was thick and it pressed vinegar and baking soda into the plastic bottle. It could have caused an explosion.”
Local police spokesperson Sony Mathai added, “We do not yet know the cause of the explosion.” We have sent the material collected from the site for chemical analysis. “Once we receive the report of the chemical analysis, we will know what caused the explosion.”
