Pop Rock Science-Teacher Edition
Pop Rocks are known as the exploding candy, and if you have ever eaten Pop Rocks you probably
have heard the legend…If you eat Pop Rocks and then drink soda, you’ll explode!!
QUESTION: Will you explode if you drink soda and eat Pop Rocks? I think that you will…
Materials
Pop Rocks
Balloon
Carbonated water
Pre-form soda bottle
1. CRUSH TEST
a. Take a few big pieces of Pop Rocks and place them on the table
b. Using the back of a spoon start to crush them
c. Place a couple Pop Rocks between your teeth and crush them.
Write down what you observe (what you see and hear)
Loud “Pop” when you crush it under the spoon- Crush it in your teeth and you’ll hear the same
cool popping sound
Why do you think this happens?
This comes from bursting the high pressure bubble of carbon dioxide.
2. BALLOON TEST—How much gas is in a packet of Pop Rocks?
a. Pour the rest of the Pop Rocks into an empty balloon and make sure they get all the
way down to the bottom of the balloon
b. Have your teacher fill your pre-form soda bottle with carbonated water.
c. Place the balloon over the lip of the bottle but DO NOT LET THE POPROCKS FALL IN
YET)
d. Once the balloon is attached lift the top of the balloon up and let the Pop Rocks fall
into the soda.
How big do you think the balloon will get? I think the balloon will get really big
How big did the balloon get? WHY? The balloon did not get very big-It blew up some but not
super big. According to information from the manufacturer, Pop Rocks start like any other hard
candy by combining sugar, lactose (milk sugar), corn syrup, and flavoring. These ingredients are
heated to the boiling point and the hot sugar mixture is missed with carbon dioxide gas under
high pressure. The process causes tiny high pressure bubbles of carbon dioxide gas to form in
the candy.
When the hot candy mixture cools and the pressure of the gas is released, the hard candy
shatters into tiny pieces of carbonated candy. If you look carefully at the candy under a
magnifying glass, you’ll see the tiny bubbles-each containing a small amount of carbon dioxide
gas under high pressure. When the candy melts in your mouth, the bubbles of gas are released
with a loud popping sound. Very Cool!
In the experiment with the balloon, mixing Pop Rocks with soda is a physical reaction-not
chemical reaction. The soda dissolves the candy and releases the small bubble of carbon
dioxide gas from the Pop Rock. Believe it or not, most of the carbon dioxide in the balloon came
from the soda. Dropping Pop Rocks into soda causes some of the carbon dioxide from the soda
to escape. That’s the real reason why the balloon inflates.
CONCLUSION: You will not explode if you eat Pop Rocks but you might get a pretty nice burp
out of the deal!