The Giant Dry Ice Bubble Sphere
If you’ve got some dry ice, why not gather friends and family and try your hand at making a large dry ice ghost bubble?This is especially fun at Halloween. Who knows? Maybe you will see your future inside the Ghostly Sphere.
YOU WILL NEED:
- Medium size bowl with a rim
- Small bowl
- Liquid soap
- 20 inch by 2 inch strip of absorbent cloth (cut up t-shirts work great)
- Warm Water
- Dry Ice – Available at some grocery stores and ice suppliers
CAUTION!: NEVER touch dry ice with your bare hands.
Always wear thick gloves and keep away from children.
NEVER place dry ice in a completely enclosed container.
WHAT TO DO:
Fill each bowl halfway with water. In the small bowl, add a good squirt of liquid soap (we like Dawn Concentrate) and stir it up.
Get the rim of the larger bowl wet with regular water using your fingers.
Add the dry ice to the large bowl. Admire the sights and sounds of bubbling dry ice.Now the tricky part, dip the cloth into the soapy water to get it wet but not dripping wet. Pull the cloth strip so that it is taut and pass it across the entire rim of the medium bowl to create a soap bubble “skin” over the bowl. It may take several tries – don’t give up!
Don’t worry about your bubble popping. We think that’s the coolest part!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FUN HALLOWEEN EXPERIMENT IDEAS!
Make Some Ghost Bubbles!
If you want to make any day better, perhaps the easiest way is to add bubbles to it. We have seen lots of different kinds of bubbles: big bubbles, small bubbles, bubbles that don’t pop, even colored bubbles. But my personal favorite is Ghost Bubbles. They’re not that hard to make and they are great fun to explore…especially at Halloween:
YOU WILL NEED:
- A large plastic container with a wide mouth
- A rubber sink sprayer designed to attach to a faucet with the sprayer cut off/removed. (regular wide tubing, 1 cm or wider will work as well)
- Small bowl of bubble solution. CLICK HERE for a recipe.
- Warm Water
- Dry Ice – Available at some grocery stores and ice suppliers
- A glove made of fuzzy fibers.
CAUTION!: NEVER touch dry ice with your bare hands.
Always wear thick gloves and keep away from children.
NEVER place dry ice in a completely enclosed container.
WHAT TO DO:
- Carefully drill a hole towards the top of the container that is just wide enough to fit the tube.
- Fit the tube into the opening with the wide (faucet end) out as shown in the top picture and secure with tape if needed.
- Fill the container with warm water about 1/4 full.
- Drop several pieces of dry ice into the water and cap the container loosely. Dry ice mist should now be coming out of the tube.
- Dip the end of the tube into the bubble solution and make ghost bubbles! If the mist is coming out too fast, loosen the container cap to adjust the flow.
MORE GHOST BUBBLE FUN:
- Try holding Ghost Bubbles with a fuzzy glove such as a wool glove. With some practice, you can toss and bounce the bubble.
- Allow the bubbles to fall onto a fuzzy surface, such as a towel. Try rolling them around by lifting different ends of the towel. Fuzzy surfaces keep the bubble from easily popping because they spread out the amount of pressure on the surface of the bubble, and keep it from touching a surface that would absorb the moisture and dry out the bubble, causing it to pop.
GHOST BUBBLE INFO:
Every soap bubble is made of a film that has 3 layers: Soap, then Water, then Soap. Because of the way that soap molecules are arranged, and the way they attract and repel from each other and the water, the soap creates bonds that give the water additional strength, and allow them to last much longer. The dry ice mist is a combination of water vapor and carbon dioxide gas from the dry ice. Because carbon dioxide is heavier than air, dry ice mist will always flow downward.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FUN HALLOWEEN EXPERIMENT IDEAS!
Oobleck – The Corn Starch And Water Experiment
This may just be the easiest, messiest, and most fun science activity I know. It is a classic, and I have gotten several requests recently to post directions. You should know that if you try this activity and you are not smiling and messy with corn starch goo at the end, then you are definitely doing something wrong. Also keep in mind that this is not just about fun, there is some pretty amazing science going on here.
You will need:
- Cornstarch (a 16 oz. box is good for every 2-3 participants – but more is always better)
- Water
- Food coloring (we always say it’s optional, but it does make it more fun – don’t use too much or you could end up with colored hands…and clothes…and curtains)
- A large bowl
- A camera – you’re probably going to want to take pictures.
Everyone should roll up their sleeves and prepare for some gooey fun.
- This is easy. Pour the cornstarch into the bowl. Don’t rush to add water – take time to feel the cornstarch. Cornstarch does not feel like any other powder. It has a texture that can be compared to that of whipped cream. The grains of cornstarch are so small that they will fill into grooves of your fingerprints and make the prints stand out.
- After you’ve taken-in the feel of the powder, it is time to add water. (You should add the food coloring to your water before adding it to the powder.) There are no exact formulas regarding how much water to add, but it will end up being about 1/2 cup (120 ml) of water per cup (235 ml) of cornstarch. The secret is to add the water slowly and mix as you add it. Don’t be shy here – dig in with your hands and really mix it up. This is usually when you notice that this is not your average liquid. Add enough water so that the mixture slowly flows on its own when mixed. The best test is to reach in and grab a handful of the mixture and see if you can roll it into a ball between your hands – if you stop rolling it and it “melts” between your fingers – success!
We’ll get the the science soon, for now just dig in and explore. Notice that the goo does not splash (or even move) if you hit it quickly. Squeeze it hard and see what happens. How long can you get the strands of goo to drip? What happens if you let the goo sit on the table for a minute and then try to pick it up? How does it feel? Hows does it move? Try bouncing a ball on the surface of the cornstarch. You get the idea – explore!
30 minutes later…
So now goo is everywhere and you’re thinking you should probably start cleaning. Actual clean up of the goo is a snap. A bucket of warm water will quickly get it off your hands. It will brush off of clothes when it dries, and it is easily cleaned off surfaces with a wet rag. Important: Make sure you do not dump the goo down the drain – it can get caught in the drain trap and take the joy out of your day of science. Dump it in the trash, or even mix it into soil in the garden.
Cornstarch grains under the microscope
Now for the science…
Our cornstarch goo (sometimes referred to as “oobleck” from the Dr. Suess book) is what scientists call a “Non-Newtonian” liquid. Basically, Sir Issac Newton stated individual liquids flow at consistent, predictable rates. As you likely discovered, cornstarch goo does NOT follow those rules – it can act almost like a solid, and them flow like a liquid. Technically speaking, the goo is a SUSPENSION, meaning that the grains of starch are not dissolved, they are just suspended and spread out in the water. If you let the goo sit for an while, the cornstarch would settle to the bottom of the bowl.
So why does this concoction act the way it does? Most of it has to do with pressure. The size, shape, and makeup of the cornstarch grains causes the cornstarch to “lock-up” and hold its shape when pressure is applied to it. People have filled small pools with oobleck and they are able to walk across the surface of it (as long as they move quickly.) As soon as they stop walking, they begin to sink.
I hope you get to try this out. Let us know how your day with non-newtonian liquids went. Comment here, or, even better, send us pictures to comment@sciencebob.com . Have fun exploring!
-Science Bob
Halloween Science Experiments & Ideas!
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GLOWING DRINKABLE BEVERAGES
Did you know that tonic water will glow under a blacklight? We didn’t either. The quinine in the tonic water glows a very cool looking blue color that we really like. If you’re not crazy about the taste of tonic water, try making ice cubes using the tonic water and then add them to a glass of Sprite or another light colored citrus drink. Switch on the blacklight and you have the perfect Halloween beverage. After a few minutes the entire drink will start to glow. (see photo) It works for making glowing Jello as well.
MAKE SOME HALLOWEEN SLIME
Slime and Halloween go together like, well, slime and Halloween. Here’s 2 ways to add a little slime to your October.
DO IT YOURSELF SLIME - If you’ve got a little glue and some powdered borax, you can mix up some slime by following the instructions HERE.
READY TO GO SLIME KITS - If you want to make LOTS of classic slime as an activity for a party or science lesson, or if you have trouble finding Borax, a kit is the way to go. You can find some great slime making kits by clicking HERE.
MAKE SOME GHOST BUBBLES
Ghost Bubbles are regular soap bubbles filled with dry ice mist. If you know the secret you can even hold them in your hand without them popping. Find out how to make Ghost Bubbles by clicking HERE.
EERIE GREEN PUMPKINS 
All your neighbors will have Jack-O-Lanterns that glow orange, but you will impress them with a Jack-O-Lantern that glows green! Best of all, the green glow is simple and safer than traditional candles. Purchase one or two large glowing light-sticks per pumpkin at a party store or hardware store.(We like green, but there are many colors to experiment with) Activate the light stick and simply drop them into the pumpkin, or, to conceal the glow sticks, attach them to the inside of the pumpkin lid by unbending large paperclips to secure them. Place your pumpkin outside on Halloween night and admire the “Oooos” and “Ahhhhs” of Trick-Or-Treaters.
MAKE A HAUNTED, SCREAMING CUP
If you think haunted houses are scary, wait until to hear…haunted drinkware! First, check out our Chicken In A Cup experiment, but instead of pulling along the string in short bursts to sound like a chicken (it really does, trust us) pull in one continuous motion. The result is an eerie screaming cup! The only thing better than than trying the screaming cup yourself, is trying the screaming cup with LOTS of your friends all at once. Parents especially seem to enjoy that. The instructions can be found HERE.
BUBBLING POTIONS AND JARS
Every mad scientist needs some bubbling potions. While dry ice may be the ultimate bubbling potion, the effect tends to be short-lived, and dry ice can be dangerous around younger Halloween party goers. The solution is a simple aquarium pump. Purchase an inexpensive aquarium pump and some tubing at your local pet store along with a line splitter (if you want more than one bubbling potion.) Set up the pump to send bubbles into various large food jars through the tubes. Add some food coloring, plastic bugs or fake body parts, and you’ve got the sights and sounds of a mad scientists lab that will last all night. For added drama, light up the jars from below using flashlights. You can also create floating eyeballs by drawing an iris and pupil onto ping-pong balls with permanent markers. Make a few that will float around by drilling two very small holes in the ping-pong balls and allowing them to fill with water until they sink. For an added glowing black light effect add our Glow-Bright Concentrate.
GHOST BUBBLE SPHERE
If you have got some dry ice around this Halloween, gather your friends and family and try making a Dry Ice Bubble Sphere. It’s easy, and the result will wow anyone at your party. Get all the instructions HERE.
THE STATIC DANCING GHOST
Make a paper ghost seem to rise at your command an even dance around
CLICK HERE for instructions to make a static powered dancing ghost.
THE SCREAMING QUARTER EXPERIMENT
If you have some dry ice from the Ghost Bubble Sphere left over, you might want to try this fun little demonstration. Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. As it sublimates, (turns back into a gas) the carbon dioxide gas escapes around the quarter causing the quarter to vibrate and make a rather spooky shrill along with occasional humorous sounds. Always wear gloves when performing this demonstration.
CHECK OUT THE HALLOWEEN SCIENCE ITEMS AT OUR STORE, CLICK HERE.
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Your Levitating Orb Videos
A few students that have tried the levitating orb, have made videos for YouTube. Here are a few that we have found:
We want to add you to this page! Simply make a video of your levitating orb experiment, post it on YouTube, and send us the link at comment@sciencebob.com, and we’ll post it here.
New Zealand students study density with Blobs In a Bottle.
Ian Stewart, a teacher at the St. Andrews School in Hamilton, New Zealand was looking for a way to make learning about density a hands-on experience. Then he stumbled across our Blobs In a Bottle lava lamp experiment (link below) at sciencebob.com. The students got to work creating their own blobs in bottles as they explored molecular polarity and liquid density. They used different shaped bottles to see if it changed the effect, and they added different colors as well. Ian reports the experiment was a success and the students were able to bring their experiment home to keep the discovery process going.
SO WHY DON”T OIL & WATER MIX?
The Blobs in a Bottle experiment is an excellent way to teach about the sometimes confusing concept of density in liquids. Density, in this experiment, is demonstrated when the oil floats above the water. This is not because the water is “heavier” than the oil. In fact, all the oil in the bottle likely weighs more than all the water in the bottle, but a glass of of water would weigh more than an equal sized glass of oil. This is because there is more matter (sometimes more easily referred to as “stuff”) packed into the equal amount of water. Another way to think about it would be to compare a brick made of clay, and one the exact same size made out of styrofoam or wood. Even though they are the same size, the styrofoam is less dense. The clay brick has more “stuff” packed into the same amount of space – it is more dense! See, I told you it can get confusing.
Density, however is NOT why the oil and water do not mix. No, that is due to a little thing called molecular polarity. Molecular polarity basically means that water molecules are attracted to other water molecules. They get along fine, and can loosely bond together (drops.) This is similar to magnets that are attracted to each other. Oil molecules are attracted to other oil molecules, they get along fine as well. But the structures of the two molecules do not allow them to bond together. Instead, they are like magnet that repel away from each other. Of course, there’s a lot more fancy scientific language to describe density and molecular polarity, but maybe now you’ll at least look at that vinegrette salad dessing in a whole new way.
