Dry Ice: is it LETHALLY DANGEROUS?

Find middle ground between "Genuine danger" vs "Raving Safety Paranoia." Dry ice is fun. Figure out a way to handle it safely.

But also go see http://bit.ly/EKqgi SFGATE: "The War On Curiosity" (stamping out hobbyist science in order to keep kids "safe.")

Buy dry ice from suppliers listed in your yellow pages phone book for about $1 per pound. Or in Seattle, get it from certain Fred Meyer stores, or from QFC grocery, in their seafood section.

Dry ice lasts a couple of days when stored in a thick-wall styrofoam box with a lid. It lasts longer if you place a couple of layers of paper bags in the box so the dry ice isn't pushing against the styrofoam. Even better is to wrap it in many layers of aluminized mylar "emergency blanket." If outdoors, keep the box out of the wind (the slightest bit of air motion will evaporate it all within hours.)

Note: trolls/spammers blocked immediately, zero tolerance

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• amasci
• science
• fair
• physics
• c02
• dry
• ice
• fog
• safety
• carbon
• dioxide

[hydrokineticwave]

My cousin let dry ice rest on his left leg for a minute and he got a water buble beneath his skin than he poped it and no blood came out just water.

[wbeaty]

@hydrokineticwave that's frostbite. It's basically the same as a 2nd-degree burn: large blisters full of fluid.

See liquid nitrogen blister bit.ly  / suWi1t

[exweirdo]

Dude, you should audition for Jackass..

[wbeaty]

@exweirdo Yeah, more fake "danger."

It's as safe as a fire-eating circus performance. Everybody is terrifed, but the real danger is in accidentally swallowing. Fire-eaters might burn their eyebrows off. Cryo-eaters will get many microscopic cracks all over their molars.

[angelika85731]

this is very iinteresting video but i am not putting dry ice in my mouth!!! i know it is dangerous but i am willing to be careful with dry ice this year

[wbeaty]

@angelika85731 It's dangerous but not lethal. Circus fire performers "eat fire" by spitting out mouthfuls of kerosene toward a burning torch. You could do a cryo-eater circus act. On the other hand, it's known to slowly cause buildup of tiny cracks all over your molars. (Physics teachers discovered this from their "LN2-eater" circus performance.)

[wbeaty]

@DmajikDesign Yes, if you try to squirt out the water, the bottle plugs up and explodes. Did your parents watch the video warnings? Did you and your brother have close adult supervision at all times?

These suggested demonstrations are for adult science teachers and ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR UNSUPERVISED STUDENTS. Kids will mess around and get hurt.

Adults don't need to be terrified of cars, steak knives, power tools, etc. Yet these can cause severe injury if handled incorrectly. Same with dry ice.

[AntiKipKay]

Dry ice doesn't melt at room temp right?

[Viscecrid]

press 9 for fun!

[ilikeeggs283]

like a boss

[ShinigamiKira656]

Can i Use Dry Ice for beverages ?

[talentedhobo901]

im gonna chop some ice today.......

*pulls out saw*

muhahahaha

[Od1n12]

Our school recently had an dry ice performance where she put a potatoe chip inside a box full of dry ice water and etc. She then ate the chip and smoke came out of her nose. We also put a coke bottle full of dry ice and hot water into a pool of water and the whole pool exploded.

[sperdo911]

This guy is a complete idiot! Do not listen to him!

[acdcfannumba1]

0:03, Smokin' Poor mans' liquid nitrogen