The most domestic version of the Pharaoh's Snake

The best DIY way to grow a “snake”!

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions:

  • At­ten­tion! Un­der adult su­per­vi­sion only!
  • Ob­serve safe­ty pre­cau­tions when work­ing with fire and flammable ma­te­ri­als

Equip­ment and reagents

  • 4 tbsp pow­dered sug­ar;
  • 1 tbsp bak­ing soda;
  • lighter flu­id;
  • bowl of sand.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Mix 4 tbsp pow­dered sug­ar with 1 tbsp bak­ing soda. Pour some lighter fuel into a bowl of sand. Trans­fer the mix­ture of sug­ar and soda to the cen­ter of the bowl and set it on fire. A men­ac­ing sug­ar snake be­gins to grow!

Process de­scrip­tion

Ig­nit­ing the mix­ture ini­ti­ates sev­er­al pro­cess­es.

С₁₂H₂₂O₁₁+12O₂ =12­CO₂ +11H₂O

  • The ther­mal de­com­po­si­tion of sug­ar into car­bon and wa­ter va­por:

С₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ → 12C+11H₂O

  • The ther­mal de­com­po­si­tion of bak­ing soda into car­bon diox­ide and wa­ter va­por:

2NaH­CO₃ → Na₂­CO₃+H₂O+CO₂

The body of the “snake” con­sists main­ly of car­bon, which forms when un­burnt sug­ar is heat­ed. This car­bon is what makes the “snake” black. The snake also con­tains Na₂­CO₃, which re­sults from the bak­ing soda’s ther­mal de­com­po­si­tion. The car­bon diox­ide, wa­ter va­por, and oth­er gaseous prod­ucts of com­bus­tion foam the car­bon, mak­ing the body of the “snake” airy and por­ous.

Try it