• Question: what happens when you put dry ice in warm water

    Asked by arora to Lauren, Marisol, Michael, Sarah, Sophie on 7 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Sarah Hunak

      Sarah Hunak answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      It makes an awesome spooky effect! We use liquid nitrogen at work to keep some of the radiation detectors cold (they work better when they’re super cold). We store the liquid nitrogen outside in a big tank and occasionally I’ve had to go and fill up a container with it to use in the detector. Of course, we’re very careful and use all the correct protective equipment, but sometimes some escapes and it makes a ghostly trail around the tank. I love watching it!

    • Photo: Lauren Burt

      Lauren Burt answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Hi Arora

      OOh that’s a hard question. I haven’t learnt about that for many years. Some people use dry ice at the place that I work in (it is a big research building for many different science subjects!).

      I don’t think they put it into warm water, but I’d imagine it would be quite a shock if something super cold had to be made into something warm really quickly!

      Might get a scientific reaction! What do you think?

      Lauren 😀

    • Photo: Michael Rivera

      Michael Rivera answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Great answers by my fellow scientists above!

      I also want to point out that there is a branch of science called ‘gastronomy’. This is basically the science of food. Some gastronomists definitely investigate how dry ice and different liquids interact, and how they can use such experiments when making food.

      Some gastronomists use weird techniques to make ice-cream, sometimes involving dry ice, and sometimes involving liquid nitrogen! Check out some videos on YouTube – it’s astonishing!

      Michael 🙂

    • Photo: Marisol Collins

      Marisol Collins answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Crazy stuff happens! ‘Dry ice’ is solid carbon dioxide at a very low temperature, and when you put it in warm water, the temperature change makes it jumps straight to becoming carbon dioxide gas, so there is a lot of bubbling and spooky white fog (like Sarah describes).

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