Science experiments · lesson 17 of 30 · free

Butter from shaking cream — Science experiments for kids

You need: fresh cream, a plastic jar with a tight lid, a bowl, cold water and a timer. What happens: the cream sloshes, then turns into thick whipped cream, and after more shaking lumps of butter separate from a watery liquid, buttermilk. Why: cream is full of tiny fat drops. Shaking breaks the thin coats around them, so they stick together into butter — just like churning curd with a mathani.

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Got it? Practise ↓

What you do

Shake till it clumps — “shaking makes the tiny fat drops in cream stick together into butter”

  1. 1. Fill the jar only one-third full of fresh cream.
  2. 2. Screw the lid on tightly.
  3. 3. Shake hard, taking turns, for 10–15 minutes.
  4. 4. When lumps form, pour off the buttermilk and rinse the butter in cold water.

Use it for: Science lessons on changes in materials and food; a kitchen experiment for a rainy day.

Worked example: 🧈 Why does shaking cream make butter? → fat bits stick together

  1. Cream is full of tiny fat drops.
  2. Shaking makes the fat bits stick together into butter.

Check: Skimmed milk with almost no cream makes no butter ✓

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✏️ Practice

Work it out in your head or on paper, type the answer and press Check. Stuck? Press “Show me how”.

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🏁 Lesson 17 test

20 questions. Check each answer, then go to the next one. Get 16 or more right to pass.

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🖨️ Butter Making Experiment Worksheet

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