Chemistry students learn to make nitrogen ice cream
On Thursday, May 12 a guest speaker from Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream visited with high school chemistry students to help review gas laws for their exam and to teach them how to make ice cream using nitrogen.
The guest speaker explained that Earth is the planet with the most nitrogen and that Earth’s atmospheric nitrogen concentration is around 80 percent as he performed exciting experiments involving nitrogen.
The first experiment demonstrated Charles’ Law, which states that the volume of a given amount of gas is proportional to its temperature. A student rubbed a balloon in liquid nitrogen, and upon doing this, the balloon shrunk.
The guest speaker explained that when the student subjected the balloon to liquid nitrogen, which has a temperature below freezing, the molecules in the balloon got cold enough themselves that they turned to liquid. Liquids take up less space than gases because the molecules are closer together, which explains why the balloon shrunk.
The guest speaker closed the presentation by demonstrating how to make ice cream using nitrogen. Students were treated to strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream.
Thanks for coming, Sub Zero, and helping these students prepare for their chemistry exam!
