Electrify Your Ketchup

Want to make a condiment conduct a current?

  • All
  • Fun With Food
  • Experiments
Print Version
A boy squirting ketchup into a lightning-filled sky.

What you’ll need:

  • 1 brass picture hook (note: any small brass or copper object like an old penny will work)
  • Aluminum foil
  • Ketchup
  • Plate or saucer

Whatʼs happening?

The ketchup is connecting the brass in the hook and the aluminum foil, acting as a conducting fluid that allows the hook to pull electrons (very tiny, electrically-charged bits of atoms from the aluminum).

The moving electrons are the electric current! It’s not a big enough current to light a light bulb (about ½ volt), but the loss of electrons is enough to change the composition of the aluminum so that weak acid vinegar) in the ketchup can start to dissolve it. Thatʼs where the holes come from.