Fun With Dry Ice

We got a shipment of varicella vaccine at work today. It has to remain frozen until used so it is shipped in dry ice. I love varicella days at work. I pour water over it at different times during the day to watch it vaporize. I am always a little sad that I can't do more with it, what with charting and making phone calls and taking patient histories and all.

Anyway, I decided that today was the day to introduce my children to the wonders of dry ice so I brought the styrofoam container home. We started by pouring water on it. The kids were appropriately impressed. Then we poured hot water on it and listened to it crack up in the container. We finally poured in so much water that it froze into a solid mass with a layer of bubbling water on the top.

We tipped the container so the vapor flowed over the side like water. I showed the kids how to wave a hand gently over the top of the container to form waves in the vapor. Finally, we dripped some food coloring in the container and poured water over that. Very, very cool.