Tag - dry ice

Hands-on Halloween Science

I’m not sure if Halloween was better for me as a kid or right now as an adult… okay, it’s better now! It’s no secret that I make the most out of every Halloween – from the oozing slime at school to the ghoulish fun at home, Halloween is the perfect time to let your creativity out for an evening of fun.

I think it all started growing up in a family where my parents turned Halloween into a full fledged show. I learned not to bother my Dad after about two o’clock in the afternoon on Halloween because he was getting the entry way of our home ready for those poor unsuspecting Trick-or-Treaters. My favorite memory was getting to sit in his home-made electric chair – complete with blinking lights and giant sparks of static electricity coming from the metal hat. It was great! When the doorbell rang, it was showtime… and my job was to yell at the top of my lungs, “Hey Mister… all I wanted was a lousy piece of candy!” We never gave away much candy on Halloween – no one ever stuck around long enough
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Really cool demos – with dry ice

Assuming you have your dry ice by now, let’s get into our first demonstration.

Remember, wear your safety glasses and gloves. Do not ever put dry ice in your mouth. It will burn!!

Using a pair of kitchen tongs, grab a chunk of dry ice (listen to the screeching sound when the metal touches the ice) and place it on a dish. On another dish, place an ordinary ice cube. Then ask the kids which one will melt first. Fairly basic stuff, but the kids will learn that the ice cube will turn from a solid into a liquid, while the dry ice will disappear completely. It is important for students to understand that dry ice doesn’t obey the same laws of nature.

The most famous thing you can do with dry ice is to drop it in water. Something I learned from a special effects artist was to fill a metal drum half full with water, drop some dry ice into it to produce “smoke” “steam” or “water vapor”. The warmer the water, the more water vapor it made. Turning on a fan blew all of that water vapor out.

For your own experiment, start with warm water for great
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Halloween a great time for those dry ice demos

Halloween is right around the corner and it’s a perfect time to do some really cool demonstrations.

Watch the video of Steve doing cool dry ice demonstrations.

First you need to get your dry ice.

Your grocery store may have it, but if they don’t, you may have to look elsewhere. Years ago, Baskin Robins used to carry dry ice, because it was the only way to keep ice cream cold in the bottom of the cooler. That has mostly gone by the wayside, but there are still some old-fashioned ice cream shops around that may have dry ice. Another place you may be able to find it is at a fish or meat market.

Now, depending on where you are in the country will depend on how reluctant the person is to sell you dry ice. Safety issues are obviously paramount, and it is getting tougher and tougher to find a source.

Most of the time you will have to go to Customer Services and ask for it. Usually, I introduce myself, say that I am a teacher, and I will be doing some demonstrations for which I will need about 5-10lbs of dry ice. This assures them that
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