Cool Science
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • History & Mission
    • Staff & Board
  • What We Do
    • Cool Science Festival (Schedule) >
      • Cool Science Carnival Day
      • Sponsors
      • Join the Festival >
        • Present a Carnival Day Activity
        • Host a Special Event
        • Volunteer Your Group
        • Volunteer Yourself
        • Contact the Festival
      • Previous Festivals >
        • 2021 Festival
        • 2021 Carnival Day
        • 2020 Festival
        • 2020 (Virtual) Carnival Day
        • 2019 Festival
        • 2019 Carnival Day
        • 2018 Festival
        • 2018 Carnival Day
      • CS Cool Science Festival YouTube
    • Outreach Programs Overview >
      • Demonstration Shows >
        • Demonstration Shows: CO Science Standards
      • Hands-on Programs >
        • Hands-on Labs: CO Science Standards
      • Science or STEM/STEAM Days & Nights, Science Busking
      • Day of Science
      • Mobile Earth & Space Observatory
    • Big Cool Science Day at Colorado College
    • Kid's Mini Fruitcake Toss
    • Science on Tap
    • Calendar
  • Cool Stuff
    • Try Science At Home
    • Teaching Resources
    • Cool News
    • Cool Science Jokes
  • How To Help
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • Corporate & Foundation Donors
  • Contact Us
    • General Contact Info
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Request A Program

Cool News

Girl Learns About Liquid Nitrogen at the Pikes Peak Marathon

8/27/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last Sunday at the Pikes Peak Marathon Block Party, a little girl wearing a pink dress visited the Cool Science booth with her family. All of them, the mom, dad, three sisters, and brother, were captivated by dragon’s breath, cereal that gives you the ability to blow smoke like a dragon. Well, not EXACTLY smoke. It’s actually a cloud of water vapor formed because the cereal is dipped in liquid nitrogen, which is -320°F.
 
At first the family was hesitant to put the cold-as-the-planet-Neptune cereal in their mouths, but finally the brave mom stepped forward. After she showed her family that the coast was clear and the fun you can have blowing clouds, the brother and two older sisters were eager to get their hands on some dragon’s breath of their own. The littlest sister was still not sure she wanted to commit to the experience, but her eyes betrayed her fascination with the science.
 
After the dragon’s breath, the family was able to make their own penny puzzles. When pennies made of zinc are cooled in liquid nitrogen, they become brittle and break into tiny pieces, which make excellent puzzles. This doesn’t happen to copper pennies (those made before 1982) because copper remains strong even when bellow -320°F.
 
The little girl was still apprehensive about experimenting with liquid nitrogen, however.
 
So, Cool Science showed her all the amazing things you can do with the substance. We showed her that it flash boils instantly when it hits the ground, leaving nothing but a small cloud. How it rolls along the table on a cushion of gas thanks to the Leidenfrost effect. And that its low viscosity means the liquid spins around in a beaker really fast—even when the beaker is upside down.
 
By the end of her visit, the little girl’s curiosity and wonder at the experiments may have sparked her future career as a scientist!

​-posted by Joshua

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2020
    April 2020
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018

    Tags

    All
    Colorado
    Cool Science Jokes
    Facebook
    Ice Cream Science
    Library
    Liquid Nitrogen
    Physics
    Space
    Summer Camp
    Try Science At Home
    Twitter
    Zoom Science Classes

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • History & Mission
    • Staff & Board
  • What We Do
    • Cool Science Festival (Schedule) >
      • Cool Science Carnival Day
      • Sponsors
      • Join the Festival >
        • Present a Carnival Day Activity
        • Host a Special Event
        • Volunteer Your Group
        • Volunteer Yourself
        • Contact the Festival
      • Previous Festivals >
        • 2021 Festival
        • 2021 Carnival Day
        • 2020 Festival
        • 2020 (Virtual) Carnival Day
        • 2019 Festival
        • 2019 Carnival Day
        • 2018 Festival
        • 2018 Carnival Day
      • CS Cool Science Festival YouTube
    • Outreach Programs Overview >
      • Demonstration Shows >
        • Demonstration Shows: CO Science Standards
      • Hands-on Programs >
        • Hands-on Labs: CO Science Standards
      • Science or STEM/STEAM Days & Nights, Science Busking
      • Day of Science
      • Mobile Earth & Space Observatory
    • Big Cool Science Day at Colorado College
    • Kid's Mini Fruitcake Toss
    • Science on Tap
    • Calendar
  • Cool Stuff
    • Try Science At Home
    • Teaching Resources
    • Cool News
    • Cool Science Jokes
  • How To Help
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • Corporate & Foundation Donors
  • Contact Us
    • General Contact Info
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Request A Program