Liquid Nitrogen in a two liter bottle

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Liquid nitrogen expands in volume about 8oo times as it changes from a liquid to a gas. What would happen if you tried to contain all that gas inside a 2 liter bottle? Find out.

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Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

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How to make really tasty ice cream using liquid nitrogen as a cooling agent. Read more

Burning Cheese puffs, Hot food science

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Food calories are a measure of how much energy is contained in the food item. A very graphic way to visualize how much energy is in a handful of food is to burn it and observer the flame. We try this with a handful of cheesepuffs and Total cereal. Read more

Make your own lava lamp

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What could be more cool than making a lava lamp with stuff you already have? With just a few items from your kitchen you can create a bubbling version of a lava lamp. To get started gather up some vegetable oil, water, food coloring, a plastic bottle and some effervescing (the bubbling kind) antacid tablets.

Start by cleaning out the bottle and filling it with about 2 inches of water. Now pour in the vegetable oil to nearly the top. In order to color your lava, you will need to add several drops of food coloring. Notice that the food coloring does not mix or color the oil as the drops sink.

Materials:

  • Plastic bottle (any size)
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Water
  • Effervescing antacid tablet
  • Food Coloring

What to do:

  • Fill the plastic bottle with 2 inches of water.
  • Fill the rest of the way with vegetable oil.
  • Put in 5 or 6 drops of food coloring.
  • Drop in an effervescing antacid tablet and you just made your very own lava lamp.
  • Try putting a flashlight under the bottle see what the lava lamp looks like now!

What is the Science?

Oil will not mix with water – it is an example of a hydrophobic molecule. The term hydrophobic literally means water fearing from the Greek language hydros “water” and phobos “fear”. Food coloring is a hydrophilic molecule. The term hydrophilic literally means water loving from the Greek language hydros “water” and philic “friendship”. The food coloring has the ability to mix or transiently bond with the water (H2O) through hydrogen bonding. When you place the effervescing antacid tablet into the bottle it will dissolve in the water and form bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. The gas rises and takes some of the colored water along with it to the surface of the oil. When this glob of water and bubbles reaches the top of the oil the gas escapes. Without the gas to lift it, the water droplet falls back to the bottom of the bottle. This cycle will repeat until all of the antacid is used up.

What is Oobleck?

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Oobleck is a suspension of cornstarch and water that can behave like a solid or a liquid depending on how much pressure you apply. Try to grab some in your hand and it will form a solid ball in your palm just until you release the pressure, then it will flow out between your fingers. Materials that behave this way are classified as non-Newtonian liquids because their flow properties are not described by a constant viscosity. The name Oobleck comes from the 1949 children’s book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, by Dr. Seuss. In the story a sticky liquid falls from the sky as a result of the king becoming bored with normal weather.
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How do antacids work?

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Have you ever eaten just a few to many chips loaded with a spicy dip? Whatever the food, sometimes you may be in need of a bit of antacid relief. Check out this video to see just how an antacid works to reduce the acid level in your stomach. One thing I forgot to mention is that Milk of Magnesia is also a laxative … so with all meds read the label before consuming…! Read more

Superabsorbant Polymers

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Super absorbers were developed in the 1960′s by the Department of Agriculture as a product to spread over crops to even out the drench-drought cycle. This class of polymers is capable of absorbing up to 400 times their weight in water. This amazing ability to hold liquids in a gel eventually led to their use in baby diapers, plant soil, grass seed and those fun “grow creatures” toys that swell in water. Read more

Methane Bubbles

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Combustion in the palm of your hand with methane. It’s even more fun if you ignite it in another persons hand. Read more

Dry Ice Fun Science For Halloween

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Fun with dry ice for Halloween. Read more

Fun with dry ice

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Solid carbon dioxide is often called dry ice because at normal atmospheric pressure it never forms a liquid state. Instead of changing from a solid to a liquid and then to a gas, it jumps right from solid to gas. This is called sublimation. Dry ice is very cold, around 109 degrees below zero on the Fahrenheit scale. That’s cold enough to freeze flesh and cause frostbite which it why we always wear gloves when handling this stuff. Read more