Bath Bomb Kit Tips:

Making a Bath Bomb is a very simple process, so there is only really two ways in which they can go wrong!  These are as follows:

1.  Bath bombs once made start to crumble, this occurs as there is not enough witch hazel in the mixture.  Simply add the powder back into the mixing tub, add a couple of sprays of witch hazel and then remix.  Complete the bath bombs as normal, and when you re-make some more, simply change the number of sprays of witch hazel next time round.

2.   Bath Bombs once made start to grow, this occurs because there is too much witch hazel in the mixture.  The bath bomb will still work, but wont be as effective as made correctly as the excess witch hazel starts the reaction off.  Simply add less witch hazel when you re-make some more.

The amount of witch hazel changes due to sodium bicarbonate and citric acid.  These can vary when they are purchased, some are granular like sugar, some are dusty like flour.  This will affect the amount of witch hazel that is needed to bind the mixture together.  Everyones interpretation of a scoop of pinch as slightly different too, which makes a manual difficult to make.  Simply adjust the amount of witch hazel if you have problems when using the kit.  The manual in the kit is only a guide, and you will get better at making bath bombs the more you make them!

River Chemistry Module Extra Project:

Bottled water is everywhere, most large shops have a whole section devoted to it.  Bottled water is also sourced from all areas of the UK, as well as worldwide.  This means that each brand will have a different mineral content, and the hardness kit in the module will pick up this. 

For less than a fiver, you can buy many small bottles of bottled  water and test them using the same test method used in the module.  As the module is a specific project, it has been put together in such a way so that you can get many tests with a small amount of sample.  This means that all the samples and standards in the kit are small, so they can fit into a small case and use cheaper parts, thus keeping the cost of the kit down. 

This means that samples tested outside the kit (ie bottled water, tap water or rainwater) will need a factor applied to them to give the correct result with respect to real world samples.  Simply carry out your test as normal, and multiply the ppm result by two.  This will convert the sample result to real life, rather than the kit result. 

See what bottled water has the highest and lowest hardness amount and see if you can see why by looking at the web for the geology for the region where that water was sourced.  You can use what you have discovered in this kit to explain your findings!