Current Science Experiments

Sand snakes!! 🐍 

The Sand Snake Experiment is also known as the 'Sugar Carbon Snake' due to the black, snake like structure that emerges from the sand after burning a combination of castor sugar and baking soda with methylated spirits in a container of sand. A chemical reaction between the burning sugar and baking soda produces carbon which expands with the heat causing the 'black snake' to rise from the sand like a fiery hooded cobra! Learners are challenged to think about what the variables are, how they can change them and what the likely result would be from this. Variables changed included the type of sugar, the type of sand, type of accelerant and size of the wells made in the sand. Can you think what variables could be changed?