
Now that you’ve got all your ingredients, it’s time to build your very own fog machine.

Then, stretch the paper towel out and drag it across the top of the bowl. Wring the paper towel out gently and run it around the rim of the bowl containing the dry ice and water. If you want to take this demonstration one step farther, have a bowl of soapy water nearby with a paper towel soaking inside. If you want to prepare one liter of low-lying fog juice, you will need to use 300ml of vegetable glycerine and 700ml of distilled water. The larger the block of dry ice, the longer you’ll see fog. This fog will continue to pour out of the container until the dry ice disappears, likely for a few minutes. It’s immediately sinking for two reasons: the fog is cooler and denser than the surrounding air and carbon dioxide gas is denser than air.

So the fog is a combination of carbon dioxide gas and water droplets. This rapid cooling causes the water vapor in the air to condense into suspended water droplets.fog! Once this cold carbon dioxide gas reaches the surface of the water, it immediately cools the air above the water’s surface.

If you’re using a clear container, the dry ice looks like it’s boiling! The bubbles you’re seeing are filled with carbon dioxide gas as it sublimates off the dry ice. What do you see? You should notice a lot of fog coming out of the container now. Now drop your chunk of dry ice into the water. If you were to leave the dry ice out, a 5-10 pound block would completely sublimate away in about 24 hours.įill your plastic or metal container about halfway with warm water. That’s when a substance goes from its solid form directly to a gas, bypassing the liquid phase altogether.

Do you notice the fog coming off of the chunk of dry ice? The dry ice is currently undergoing a phase change known as sublimation. A buildup of CO2 gas in a poorly-ventilated space can be hazardous.ĭOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP Let’s get started!įirst, pick up the dry ice with your gloved hands. You’ll also want goggles or safety glasses to protect your eyes.įinally, make sure you’re doing this experiment in a large well-ventilated space or outdoors. Make sure you have a pair of thick gloves to handle the dry ice. This substance is incredibly cold and handling it with bare hands will result in injury. CO2 gas doesn’t freeze until it reaches -110° F. Before we get started, let’s talk about safety!Īdult supervision is highly recommended during this experiment.ĭry ice is frozen carbon dioxide gas.
