Add a touch of science to your Halloween party (or your porch on Halloween night).
If you add a small amount of dry ice to a bowl of water (the hotter the water the faster the ice will dissolve and the more smoke you will get), you will get a boiling bowl of water that is cool to the touch.
Every year we take our small and large black cauldrons, place a small candle (on a safe dish) in the cauldrons, then place metal bowls filled with water on the top of each cauldron (making sure that the bowls would fit the top without being completely obvious that they are there).
We would then place a small amount of dry ice in each bowl.
The candles would ensure that the bowls of water would not freeze (they will do that after so much ice is placed in them) and kept the smoke billowing.
I would have a small cauldron sitting next to me that I would be stirring. The whole family would be dressed up and roaming the yard scaring and visiting with the trick or treaters .
Upon closer inspection our visitors would see (through the smoke) eyeballs that we got at a local store.
I was amazed how many kids were interested in knowing how I did that and were completely shocked when they would touch the bowl (or water) and find it freezing. Some parents knew what it was and teased the kids about the “boiling water”.
You can find dry ice at your local grocery store or ice cream parlor. Call them a few weeks before Halloween to see if they will sell you some. If they don’t sell it, ask them for their vendor’s information.
I found a site that has a lot of info on dry ice. Here you go everyone, enjoy…
http://www.dryiceinfo.com/fog.htm
Feb 07 2012
