Making dry ice bubbles with Meteorologist Kristen Kirchhaine

This science experiment demonstrates how to make dry ice bubbles.

Here's what you'll need:

• Eye protection (goggles or glasses)
• Dry ice **This will need to be purchased and handled by an adult. Dry ice is incredibly cold: you cannot touch it with your bare skin, so wear gloves or use tongs to handle**
• Bubble solution (purchased or homemade) -Bowl for bubble solution
• A towel or old cut up t-shirt to soak in the bubble solution
• A glass jar or cup with a smooth rim around the top, add a few inches of water in the bottom of this container

Dry ice is carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ in its solid form; at room temperature dry ice will go from a solid directly to a gas. This process is called sublimation. To speed up the sublimation process, put the dry ice in water.

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Watch what happens, the CO₂ gas looks like clouds or fog. This is the dry ice sublimating. This looks like something you might see around Halloween, like a spooky cauldron, or something from a theater production or movie set.

Now to make the bubbles. Take the piece of towel or material and soak it in that bubble solution - squeeze it out a little bit. Now drag it across the top of your container to make your bubble.

Watch what happens, the bubble starts to fill up with this gas! This looks really neat, and the bubbles can get quite large, but eventually the bubble gets too full and pops, releasing the gas.

This can be repeated over and over again to make more bubbles, although it will begin to degrade if bubble solution gets into the water.

Let Kristen know if you try this experiment! Find her on Twitter and Facebook.

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