Showing posts with label Conversation hearts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conversation hearts. Show all posts
Hearts in Soda
If you put conversation hearts in soda to watch them bob up and down, and then you leave them there for several hours so that they start to dissolve and fountain out when you open the bottle, this is what's left: a lacy mass of former candy.
Expanding Candy Hearts
Remember the Hearts Bobbing in Soda experiment? Here's what happens when you open the bottle.
When conversation hearts dissolve, some of the color sticks together in a bubbly mass that still looks like a heart. When the bottle is opened, the bubbles expand, making the hearts bigger. Then they get pushed out of the bottle by the escaping carbon dioxide.
When conversation hearts dissolve, some of the color sticks together in a bubbly mass that still looks like a heart. When the bottle is opened, the bubbles expand, making the hearts bigger. Then they get pushed out of the bottle by the escaping carbon dioxide.
Video: Hearts Bobbing in Soda
Up and down the Brach's hearts go.
Why do they do it? Do you know?
This is one of my favorite experiments to do at presentations, and it works really well on TV.
It was featured a few months ago in a Candy Experiments excerpt on Parenting.com, and I also have the instructions on my blog.
If you want to see how long the hearts can bob, here's the long version of the video.
Why do they do it? Do you know?
This is one of my favorite experiments to do at presentations, and it works really well on TV.
It was featured a few months ago in a Candy Experiments excerpt on Parenting.com, and I also have the instructions on my blog.
If you want to see how long the hearts can bob, here's the long version of the video.
Multilingual Conversation Hearts
It shouldn't be a surprise that conversation hearts are made for other languages. But when I opened my new bag of hearts for experiments, it took me a moment to realize that 1) the messages were different than usual and 2) I could still understand some of them because they were in Spanish. Hola, amigo!
How many can you understand?
How many can you understand?
Hearts Bobbing
For those who missed the Hearts Bobbing instructions on ParentMap and Parenting.com, here is the full experiment.
To make conversation hearts bob, drop them in a bottle of club soda. As the carbon dioxide in the soda forms bubbles on the hearts, the hearts bob to the surface, only to sink again when the bubbles come off. If you put the lid back on the bottle, the hearts will bob for a few minutes. Once they reach the top and start to stay there, gently shake or tap the bottle to knock the bubbles off and put the hearts back in motion. You can also do this experiment by pouring the soda into a cup and adding the hearts, or by using clear soda pop instead of club soda.
To make conversation hearts bob, drop them in a bottle of club soda. As the carbon dioxide in the soda forms bubbles on the hearts, the hearts bob to the surface, only to sink again when the bubbles come off. If you put the lid back on the bottle, the hearts will bob for a few minutes. Once they reach the top and start to stay there, gently shake or tap the bottle to knock the bubbles off and put the hearts back in motion. You can also do this experiment by pouring the soda into a cup and adding the hearts, or by using clear soda pop instead of club soda.
A version of this photo appeared in the book Candy Experiments,
and is copyrighted by Andrews McMeel Publishing.
and is copyrighted by Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Hearts Fading
When we first tested hearts in the window to see if they would fade, only the pink ones faded quickly. But after a few more weeks, more colors had faded as well.
This heart used to be purple. The other side, exposed to the sun, has faded completely. On this side, the bottom of the heart, the edges have faded from sunlight, leaving only the untouched purple spot in the middle.
The blue candy heart on the left has faded noticeably. Compare it with the unfaded heart on the right.
This heart used to be purple. The other side, exposed to the sun, has faded completely. On this side, the bottom of the heart, the edges have faded from sunlight, leaving only the untouched purple spot in the middle.
The blue candy heart on the left has faded noticeably. Compare it with the unfaded heart on the right.
Sinking Hearts, Rising Hearts
What do romance novels have in common with candy experiments? They're both full of sinking and rising hearts.
Cake Mate hearts float nicely for a few minutes when you put them in water. As they do, they dissolve, shedding bright red sugar solution. The solution, denser than pure water, sinks.
Conversation hearts sink immediately. In some hearts, however, trapped air bubbles seem to emerge, floating upwards, sometimes carrying up candy particles. (Watch the blue heart in the right side of the bowl shedding pieces which float up to the surface.)
I can feel my heart rising already, can't you?
Cake Mate hearts float nicely for a few minutes when you put them in water. As they do, they dissolve, shedding bright red sugar solution. The solution, denser than pure water, sinks.
Conversation hearts sink immediately. In some hearts, however, trapped air bubbles seem to emerge, floating upwards, sometimes carrying up candy particles. (Watch the blue heart in the right side of the bowl shedding pieces which float up to the surface.)
I can feel my heart rising already, can't you?
Do hearts float or don't they?
As I wrote previously, I've been wondering why Valentine's conversation hearts float if you leave them in water. My theory was that formation of air bubbles on the surface of the hearts made them float. So how could I test it?
Water has air dissolved in it. This air forms the bubbles you see when you start to heat water (as opposed to the bubbles formed by water vapor when water boils).* You can remove most of the air by boiling the water. So I boiled a pan.
After the pan had returned to room temperature (I helped it along by letting the full pan of hot water sit in a cold water sink), I filled cups with 1/2 cup each of normal tap water and boiled water. Here's what happened:
In my tap water cup, bubbles quickly developed on the hearts. In my boiled water cup, so few bubbles formed initially that I could still count them. Two of my tap water hearts were floating within an hour.
The hearts in boiled water, on the other hand, took much longer. It was an hour and a half before one of the hearts was finally covered with enough tiny bubbles to start floating.
Why did the heart in boiled water float at all? Because even though I boiled the water, the water was continually exposed to air. I couldn't remove all the air unless I tried the process with vacuum equipment--which I don't have in my kitchen!
*For more information, visit The Engineering Toolbox.
Water has air dissolved in it. This air forms the bubbles you see when you start to heat water (as opposed to the bubbles formed by water vapor when water boils).* You can remove most of the air by boiling the water. So I boiled a pan.
After the pan had returned to room temperature (I helped it along by letting the full pan of hot water sit in a cold water sink), I filled cups with 1/2 cup each of normal tap water and boiled water. Here's what happened:
In my tap water cup, bubbles quickly developed on the hearts. In my boiled water cup, so few bubbles formed initially that I could still count them. Two of my tap water hearts were floating within an hour.
Floating hearts covered with bubbles.
The hearts in boiled water, on the other hand, took much longer. It was an hour and a half before one of the hearts was finally covered with enough tiny bubbles to start floating.
Why did the heart in boiled water float at all? Because even though I boiled the water, the water was continually exposed to air. I couldn't remove all the air unless I tried the process with vacuum equipment--which I don't have in my kitchen!
*For more information, visit The Engineering Toolbox.
Valentine Sweethearts
When I heard on NPR that Necco had changed their recipe for Valentine hearts, I had to rush out and buy a variety of Necco Sweethearts and Brach's Conversation Hearts to compare. We did a lot of experiments yesterday.
Here's one thing all the hearts had in common (except the sugar-free ones). Drop them in water, and they sink. But after a while, they bob to the surface again.
Dancing Valentine Hearts Candy Experiment
Bubbles attach to conversation hearts, making them bob up and down in club soda.
What you need:
What to do:
What’s happening:
The rough surface of a conversation heart provides perfect places for bubbles to form (nucleation sites). When the heart is dropped in club soda, the carbon dioxide dissolved in the water forms bubbles that make the hearts rise. If you shake the glass to knock the bubbles off of the hearts, the hearts sink again.
From the book Candy Experiments by Loralee Leavitt
What you need:
- Conversation hearts such as Brach's or Sweethearts
(avoid Brach's Heart2Heart candies) - Bottle of clear soda pop or club soda
What to do:
- Open the bottle of club soda
- Drop the hearts into the bottle and put the lid back on.
(Variation: pour the soda into a glass and drop in the hearts.) - Watch the hearts rise to the surface and then sink.
- Tap or shake the bottle to make the hearts sink again.
- If the hearts don't float, break or chop a few hearts into small pieces and try again.
What’s happening:
The rough surface of a conversation heart provides perfect places for bubbles to form (nucleation sites). When the heart is dropped in club soda, the carbon dioxide dissolved in the water forms bubbles that make the hearts rise. If you shake the glass to knock the bubbles off of the hearts, the hearts sink again.
From the book Candy Experiments by Loralee Leavitt
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