Elephant Toothpaste Experiment

About

Elephant Toothpaste Experiment is a foamy substance created when you combine water, hydrogen peroxide, yeast, and dish soap. The experiment is commonly used in chemistry classrooms to demonstrate an exothermic reaction, and, in early 2019, it became a popular subject on internet video content, as well as in the mainstream media in the 2020s.

Origin

The earliest found video content about the Elephant Toothpaste experiment was posted on YouTube^[1] on October 10th, 2007, by @GWNProductions. The video (shown below) demonstrates the fusion using hydrogen peroxide, potassium iodide, and dish soap, which garnered over 981,000 views and 549 likes in 16 years.

Precursor

While there is no clear indication of who was the first person to do the Elephant Toothpaste experiment, the earliest mention online was posted in an ACS Applications^[2] article from November 1st, 1999.

Spread

Throughout the years, videos of the experiment were often shared on YouTube by science and chemistry channels. For example, on September 29th, 2023, YouTube^[3] channel @ScienceBob posted a video (shown below, left) of the Elephant Toothpaste being performed in the late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live. The post amassed more than 4 million plays and 20,000 likes in a decade. On April 27th, 2009, the YouTube^[4] channel @sickscience uploaded the same experiment (shown below, right), which received roughly 357,000 views and 297 likes in 14 years.

Mainstream Success

On August 29th, 2019, YouTuber^[5] @MarkRober decided to do the biggest Elephant Toothpaste experiment in the world. He uploaded a video of the experiment (shown below), filling a pool with gallons of substances to create the volcanic eruption, which garnered over 90 million views and 1.2 million likes in four years. Another YouTuber^[6] also helped to popularize the experiment, @TheScienceFactoryOfficial tried to break the world record for the biggest Elephant Toothpaste (shown below, right) on December 19th, 2019. The video received over 33 million views and 959,000 likes in four years.

How It Works

The Elephant Toothpaste experiment^[7] creates a giant foaming reaction with just a few ingredients that look like foamy toothpaste being squeezed from a tube-- forming an elephant-trunk shape. The experiment shows the catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which decomposes into water and oxygen gas, as the Michigan Medicine YouTube^[8] explained in the video below. The post garnered more than 694,000 views and 3,500 likes since it was posted on July 15th, 2019.

IShowSpeed Elephant Toothpaste Experiment

On October 3rd, 2023, YouTuber and streamer IShowSpeed tried to do the Elephant Toothpaste experiment inside his bedroom and shared the results in a livestream (shown below). A clip of the moment was then shared on YouTube^[9], amassing 304,000 views and 17,000 likes in a few hours.

According to SportsKeeda^[10] website, the streamer appeared to have difficulty breathing, prompting his cameraman, Slipz, to advise him to exit the room. The cameraman later posted a message in the YouTube live chat, explaining that the streamer received "medical attention from professionals because he experienced difficulty breathing during the experiment."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References