We Made Pop Rocks at Home with Science

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Pop Rocks are just sugar and high-pressure CO2, but making them at home is way harder than it looks. In this video, we use three different methods to try and capture carbon dioxide in sugar: a middle-school chemical reaction, a state transition, and biological production!

Pop Rocks® is a registered trademark of Zeta Espacial S.A.; ACS is not affiliated with Zeta Espacial S.A. To learn more about Pop Rocks®, visit www.pop-rocks.com.

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Credits:
Executive Producers:
George Zaidan
Hilary Hudson

Producers:
Elaine Seward
Andrew Sobey
Darren Weaver

Writer/Host:
Alex Dainis, PhD

Scientific consultants:
Michelle Boucher, PhD
Leila Duman, PhD
Richard Hartel, PhD



Sources:

How much pressure is inside a pop rock:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/5...
https://allsensors.com/blog/tag/champ....

Pop rocks were originally invented to be an instant soda:
   • The Secret Way Pop Rocks Are Made | U...  

Enzymes on your tongue convert CO2 into protons:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/po... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc...

Your tongue detects CO2 as sour:
​​https://www.wired.com/2009/10/your-to...

Why do we like carbonated foods?
​​https://www.popsci.com/science/articl...

Claire Saffitz Makes Pop Rocks
https://www.bonappetit.com/video/watc...

Citric Acid and Baking Soda Reaction:
https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsor...

Fizzy Fruit recipe:
   • ChefSteps Tips & Tricks: Fizzy Fruit  

Yeast produce CO2
https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar....

What temperature kills yeast?
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+...