Just as it is cool, dry ice presents your kids with tons of cool experiments to try. Most of them can be educational too. Dry ice is essentially carbon dioxide in solid form- it sublimates directly from solid form to gaseous state without turning to water first.
Caution: Being frozen CO2 makes dry ice NYC pretty dangerous when misused, mishandled, or poorly stored. It can, for example, cause frostbite or asphyxiation. Adult supervision is mandatory for all the 8 experiments below:
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Canister missiles
From the onset, please note that you don’t have much time for this experiment. Everything happens in less than a minute.
That said, can you get your hands on empty film canisters? Great! Put warm water in one, up to about halfway, and then add about one teaspoon of dry ice (or more if you want a bigger and faster explosion). Ensure that the canister is sitting on a flat, level, and stable surface.
In not more than 10 seconds, turn the canister upside down so that the lid side faces down. That done, quickly run to a safe spot (about 3 meters away) and watch as the canister “launches” like a missile. The dry ice sublimates to carbon dioxide gas in warm water, creating massive air pressure that blows the canister away.
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A dry ice fog
This one is a little bit easier, but it is equally fun.
Put a small piece of dry ice in a container that’s half-filled with warm water. The ice will sublimate to gaseous CO2, which is foggy. Kids will love the spectacular foggy show. If you have lots of ice and a big enough space, you can try the experiment in a hot tub for a more spectacular show.
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Balloon fizzers
Crush your dry ice. Put warm water in a soft drink bottle up to about halfway full and then add about 3-5 tablespoons of the crushed dry ice. Get a balloon and fix it over the bottle’s open end.
The dry ice will sublimate into gas, which will in turn fill the balloon to capacity. The balloon will either pop or fly off across the room, which is a great show for the kids.
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A singing fork
Start by warming up a fork, preferably by dipping it in hot water. Remove it and immediately press it as hard as possible against a chunk of dry ice. What do you hear? Is it the fork singing/screaming?
Well, it does that because, being warm, the fork forces the dry ice to sublimate faster than normal. The gaseous carbon dioxide exerts pressure on the fork, against your press. That results in very rapid vibrations that sound like screams.
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An exploding volcano
Do you want to move from the tradition of using baking soda and lava to make exploding volcanoes? If yes, put warm water in the volcano and drop it into a sizeable piece of dry ice NYC. The sublimating gas and the water vapor will create an illusion of a smoking volcano.
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Bubble rainbow
You will need food dyes of different colors and a dishwashing liquid for this experiment. Have a cup for each food dye color. With the dye in the cups, add warm water, a few drops of the dishwashing liquid, and a small chunk of dry ice in each cup. Watch as bubbles from each cup form a bubble rainbow.
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A crystal ball bubble
This is a simple yet effective experiment. Follow these 4 simple steps:
Put a bubble solution in a small bowl.
Dip a towel in the solution so that it gets wet.
Drop in a small piece of dry ice and immediately cover the lip of the bowl using the wet towel.
That traps carbon dioxide gas as it sublimates, forming a huge crystal ball (bubble) in the bowl.
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Floating bubbles
Get a clear container and fill it halfway with warm water. If you can find a container with high edges, the better for this experiment. Drop in a small chunk of dry ice in the water. When smoke starts to form, use a straw to blow bubbles into the container.
Pressure will be formed in the container as the carbon dioxide gas sublimates and as it tries to escape from the container. This pressure pushes the bubbles upwards, making them look like they are floating against gravity.
You don’t need to buy dry ice specifically for these experiments. The little that comes with food deliveries is enough, provided that you can save it before it’s fully dissipated. However, if you need a little more dry ice NYC for a bigger project, we are happy to deliver some for you.
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