Santa Claus in a Snowstorm
Awaiting the arrival of the big man? Shake up a homemade snow globe!
Chemistry has a million real world applications, but there is none more festive that creating a snow globe right in your own home! It's not holiday magic! The Santa in a Snowstorm experiment uses a supersaturated solution to create a snow globe that you don't have to buy from a gift shop.
Materials
- 20g Benzoic Acid
- 2 L (?2 quart) beaker
- 3 L (?3 quart) jar
- 1 gallon jars work great
- Plastic figurine
- Stirring Rod
- Hot plate
- Hot glue gun
- Water
- Safety equipment
Videos
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Experiment
NOTE: This experiment is intended to be conducted by an adult, or under DIRECT supervision of an adult.
Safety Precautions
Benzoic acid is moderately toxic by ingestion. Avoid contact with skin, eyes, clothing, and respiratory tract as it is a sever irritant. Please take all possible safety precautions, including chemical splash goggles, chemical-resistant gloves, and a chemical resistant apron. Conduct this demonstration in a well-ventilated area.
Experiment
- Slowly heat about 1.8 L (1.8 quarts) of tap water in 2 L beaker using a hot plate. Do not allow the water to boil
- As the water is heating, add 20 grams of benzoic acid. Continue to heat and stir the mixture until the benzoic acid completely dissolves. Again, do not boil the solution.
- Remove the solution from the hot plate and allow the solution to cool.
- While the solution cools, use a hot glue gun to glue the plastic figurine (no, it doesn't have to be Santa) to the inside of your 3 L jar lid.
- Once the solution has cooled completely, give it a quick stir and pour it into the 3 L jar. Fill the remaining space with additional tap water.
- Cap the jar tightly with the figurine lid and turn the jar upside down. Look at that! It's a homemade snow globe!
How Does It Work?
The solution in the Santa Claus in a Snowstorm experiment is referred to as a saturated solution. That means there is as much solute (the benzoic acid) in the dissolved in the solvent (the water) as is possible. When you heat the solution, the solubility actually increases, allowing even more solute than is normally possible to dissolve. The cooling process forces the "extra" solute to precipitate, or separate itself from the solution again. The "snow" in your snow globe is actually benzoic acid that was once dissolved in the solution, but is now a precipitate.