facebook
Liquid Nitrogen & Toys ! science experiment : Fizzics Education

Welcome!

Have 10% off on us on your first purchase - Use code NOW10

					

Liquid Nitrogen & Toys !

Liquid Nitrogen & Toys !

Follow FizzicsEd 150 Science Experiments:

You will need:

NOTHING. Do not try this at home or school unless you have formal training. You are also unlikely to have liquid nitrogen at home, or in your school.

Copyright

Liquid nitrogen and tennis ball science experiment - materials needed
1 LN2 ver 3 photo taken at NISEP by Ian Jamie

Put on the safety glasses and gloves.

2 Liquid nitrogen and tennis ball science experiment - pouring liquid nitrogen over a tennis ball

Place the rubber toy into the metal bowl.

3 Liquid nitrogen and tennis ball science experiment - decanting liquid nitrogen

Slowly pour liquid nitrogen over the rubber toy and wait for at least 15 seconds for the rubber to cool down.

4 Liquid nitrogen and tennis ball science experiment - stirring a tennis ball in liquid nitrogen

Using tongs, take the rubber toy out of the liquid nitrogen and then break with a hammer. If you are running this with onlookers nearby you should cover the toy with a cloth first before breaking the toy to stop fragments going near the onlookers.

5 A man watching bubbles pour out of a large measuring cylinder

Get the Unit of Work on States of Matter here!

  • What are the different states of matter?
  • How does heat affect the size of materials?
  • How does liquid nitrogen affect materials and much more!

Includes cross-curricular teaching ideas, student quizzes, a sample marking rubric, scope & sequences & more

Orange read more button

6 LN2 sprinkler by Holly SciFest Africa Grahamstown March 2015
7 Teacher showing how to do an experiment outside to a group of kids.

Online courses for teachers & parents

– Help students learn how science really works

Orange read more button

Why Does This Happen?

The liquid nitrogen has a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius and has the capacity to freeze substances that are normally pliable at room temperature. The extremely cold rubber can be very brittle at these low temperatures due to this elastomer entering a glass transition phase and therefore easy to shatter. Once the rubber has warmed up the rubber is again easy to bend and squish.

Variables to test

More on variables here

  • Does it make a difference if the rubber toy is hollow or not?
  • Try toys with different cross-sections
  • Compare this experiment with cooling down toys with dry ice – does this have the same effect?

A man with a glove above a liquid nitrogen vapour cloud

Learn more!

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.