Dry Ice Fun!

Courtesy of Dr. Simon Foster, the Outreach Officer of the Physics Department at Imperial College I was able to bring in some dry ice to Heston Community School = FUN!

Here is the fun in action!

Smokey science
Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide (the stuff that is produced when we respire and we exhale it too). Carbon dioxide makes up 0.04% of the Earth's atmosphere. 

Dry ice is super cold with a chilly temperature of -78.5 °C! And to think that your fridge is warm in comparison with a temperature of 0°C! This is why we have to wear insulated gloves to protect our skin from getting a cold burn when we handle dry ice. 

One special thing about dry ice is that it changes directly from a solid to a liquid, a process known as sublimation (a nice word to impress your friends with!) Hence its name, dry ice, because it does not go through the liquid state in atmospheric conditions - doesn't melt like an ice cube. 

You may have noticed that the 'smoke' seems to fall downwards, partly due to gravity but also due to the fact that carbon dioxide is more dense than air and so sinks. An 'ice' cube of dry ice weighs about double that of a normal ice cube. 

So much science in just frozen carbon dioxide! 

Here are some fun projects you can do if you get hold of some dry ice from your local university or supplier.