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Water Gel

Sodium Polyacrylate Gel

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(3 customer reviews)

Make water disappear
This superabsorbent polymer powder soaks up 500-800 times its weight in water
Turns from slush powder to a gel in just seconds
Discover the secret water gel powder used in diapers!

SKU: WATERGEL (100 g Bag) 1LBWATGL (1 lb Bag)

NOW AVAILABLE IN A TEST TUBE AND STARTER SET

Frequently Purchased Together

Magic Water Gel Powder

Make Water Disappear Like a Magician

With our Water Gel Powder Kit from Steve Spangler Science, you’ll be able to amaze your friends and family while learning about hydrogels! Our Water Gel experiment has been seen on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and has wowed audiences all over the world! Water Gel Powder, also known as slush powder, turns from a dry powder to a gel in just seconds. The special sodium polyacrylate absorbs from 500 to 800 times its weight in water. It is actually the secret ingredient that’s used to absorb “liquid” in baby diapers! Included in this Water Gel Powder Kit is an activity guide with lots of fun, hands-on polymer science tricks to play on your friends. Water Gel Powder is recommended for children ages four and up.

How Water Gel Powder Works

Just add water to this superabsorbent polymer. This water-absorbing powder instantly transforms from its powdery form to a slushy solid (hence the name “slush powder”). Each Water Gel Powder portion is one blue scoop, which measures to about 3 grams. This means that there are about 33 portions in each jar. Water Gel Powder is the perfect way to demonstrate how polymers work.

What Does It Teach?

This super-absorbent polymer, sometimes referred to as hydrogel powder, can help illustrate how farmers can save their crops in times of drought, as well as demonstrate the materials used in baby diapers.

Super Absorbent Polymer Powder

Water Gel Powder soaks up to 500 – 800 times its weight in water in seconds! It uses sodium polyacrylate – the secret ingredient used to absorb “liquid” in diapers!

Science Fair Connection

Turn Water Gel Powder into a fun science fair project by simply identifying a variable (something that might change the outcome) in the experiment, then testing that variable, and correctly reporting the results.

Can You Reuse It?

Yes, you can reuse this water gel science kit after you are done with your experiments. Just spread the polymer into a thin sheet to let the water evaporate. In about 2 weeks the hydrogel will be back to its original powder form.

Steve Spangler Science

For over 25 years, Steve Spangler Science has been getting the young (and young at heart) excited about STEM subjects. Order our Water Gel Powder Kit and then check out our other all-in-one STEM science kits. These kids’ science kits are perfect for after-school activities, in-class activities, and STEM club experiments that will truly pique the imaginations of children. Each experiment and STEM science kit has that Steve Spangler Science WOW factor that we’re known for!

Osmosis Right Before Their Eyes

The chemical and physical properties of many polymers, or long carbon-chain molecules, make them very useful for a number of real-world applications. With the Water Gel Powder science kit from Steve Spangler Science, children can get a great look at the action of this kind of polymer up close. Sodium polyacrylate is a super-absorbent, cross-linked polymer powder that contains sodium atoms along its carbon chain. This sodium loves the polar water molecules and distributes itself between its own polymer network and the surrounding water, causing water molecules to travel inside the polymer network by osmosis. Then, the magic occurs as the water-absorbing powder takes in the water by osmosis and turns into a gel. Young scientists can watch the whole thing in amazement as they learn about the power of polymers. Afterward, your budding scientists can see what sort of crazy experiments they can try with our magic slush powder.

Water Gel Powder Sizes Available:

100-gram bag of Water Gel Powder
Activity guide
Measuring scoop

or

1lb bag of Water Gel Powder
Activity guide
Measuring scoop

Science Fair Connection

Think about some variables like these that you might test in your magic slush powder experiments:

Try altering the type of liquid you use. Make sure you keep all other variables the same, including the quantity of Water Gel Powder. Then compare the gel forms that are created. Are they the same? Different?
Try using different temperatures of water. Time the reactions or compare the gel forms that are created.

These are just a couple of ideas, but you aren’t limited to them! Come up with different ideas of variables to test and give them a try. Remember, you can only change one variable at a time for each test. For example, if you are testing different water temperatures, make sure that all other factors in the test remain the same!

Frequently Asked Questions

How many portions will this make?

Each portion is one blue scoop, which measures to about 3 grams. There are about 33 portions in the 100-gram Water Gel Powder Kit and 151 portions in the 1lb Water Gel Powder Kit.

Is slush powder like Insta-Snow?

The polymers are very similar, but the molecules are linked slightly differently, which is why they react differently with water.

What activities can I do with Water Gel Powder?

Water Gel Powder is a perfect way to demonstrate how polymers work. The gel can help illustrate how farmers can save their crops in times of drought and what kind of material is in a baby diaper!

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