Genius Hour #2: Background Research

     For those who are unfamiliar, a bath bomb is a form of body product used when taking a bath. The purpose of a bath bomb is for it to fizz out, soften the water, release a nice scent, and have products which are good for the skin. They have had an increase in popularity throughout the years through companies such as Lush, the founders of the bath bomb, who have sparked the fizzy craze worldwide.
     I have my own company which I run out of the store I work at (The Funky Bubble Bath and Body) called Taylor's Tubs. The basic ingredients I use for my bath bombs are as follows:

• corn starch 
• baking soda
• citric acid
• dead sea salts
• water
• essential oils 
• coconut oil 
• food coloring

     Each of the ingredients plays an important role in the end reaction of the bath bomb. As previously stated, bath bombs are traditionally placed in water to form their reaction. The reaction is an acid/base reaction with citric acid as the weak acid and baking soda as the weak base. The corn starch plays a role as a mediator if you will, for this reaction. The reaction between the acid and the base produce the CO2 bubbles which are responsible for the "fizz" of the bomb. The small bit of water that is included is just to function as an adhesive. Ideally, the bath bombs should be powdery but should have enough wet ingredients mixed in that it can still be easily packed together. Of course, if too much water were to be added, the reaction would occur prematurely and the batch would be defective. The equation for the reaction is as follows: 

NaHCO3+C6H8O7→CO2+H2O+Na3C6H5O7

(the seven pasted in weirdly, don't mind that)  

     The rest of the ingredients (dead sea salts, essential oils, and coconut oil) are all there simply for the effects they had on the body and the overall aesthetic of the bomb. Essential oils and food coloring are relatively self-explanatory: color and scent of the bath bomb. The dead sea salts I use are Ahava Deadsea Salt in the scent "Natural". The product claims it can help the body with "relaxation, easing muscle tension, and softening your skin".* Coconut oil has also been a rather trendy and useful skincare product, especially as of late. Coconut oil helps the skin retain moisture, helps protect the skin from microbial infections, repairs skin, softens skin, slows the aging process, among many other great properties. For these reasons, it makes perfect sense as to why it would be included. 

     In this experiment, I will be running trials to see how the bath bombs made with my usual recipe compare to recipes with ingredients replaced with alternatives. I'll be trying to replace the citric acid, baking soda, dead sea salts, coconut oil, and essential oil (all in separate trials, respectively). So stay tuned to see if I can make any alterations to my current bath bomb recipe!

Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sudsy-science-creating-homemade-bath-bombs/
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_p105.shtml#background
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/oils/coconut-oil-for-skin.html
(also, I quoted the back of the Ahava cointainer for the salts)