Hooked on Science: Keeping the brown away

Are you tired of your freshly cut fruit turning brown? If so, you might want to add a splash of lemon.

Materials

* Lemon

* Apple

* Bowl of water

Instructions

STEP 1: Have an adult cut the apple in half.

STEP 2: Cut the lemon and squeeze the lemon juice onto half of the apple.

STEP 3: Cover the other half of the apple with water.

STEP 4: Allow the pieces of apples to set for about an hour.

Explanation

The oxygen in the air reacts with a natural substance in apples called phenolase and turns the apple brown. The acid in the lemon juice stops this reaction.

Jason Lindsey is a Science Outreach Educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website "Hooked On Science" at hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindsey@hookedonscience.org. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com.