My assistant and I conducted a fun Halloween candy science experiment. We watched as ghosts disappeared and discussed how this was possible. Wait, what? Ghosts! Peeps ghosts that is, and yes, it is possible! How? Because of dissolution.
What you need for this simple science experiment:
- Peeps Marshmallow Ghosts
- two clear jars
- hot water
- room temperature water
We started out dropping the water on our ghosts with with dropper. We soon found out that we really needed to submerge the ghosts in the water to see an effect.
When we did that, we saw quicker results.
One of the first things that we observed was that the ghosts eyes came off and floated in the water.
Observation: The ghosts in the hot water dissolved faster than the ghosts in the room temperature water.
Why? Well, Peeps are full of sugar…mostly sugar. Sugar dissolves faster in hot water than it does in cold water, because hot water has more energy than cold water. When you heat water the molecules gain energy and move faster. All of those molecules moving around come into contact with the sugar in the Peeps more often and dissolve the ghosts faster.
The peeps did not dissolve all the way, but the ones in hot water definitely dissolved faster and more than the ones in the room temperature water.
This simple experiment was a great fall activity, and especially fun with ghosts close to Halloween. You could also try it around other holidays, like Christmas and Easter.
Have fun!
