Uses for Dry Ice
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Create a smoking pumpkin Jack O' Lantern with Dry Ice or whip a batch of cauldron brew Dry Ice Punch.
Change the water periodically for the best effect. The hotter the water, the more spooky the effect! Dry Ice is a fun, and easy way to create a fun party with special fog effects. For example, Halloween parties, a porch or entrance decoration to greet your trick- or- treaters or even as a prop for your haunted garden/ grave yard. Experiment with Dry Ice by adding soap detergent into the water to create a foaming mix of fog and soap. Place a glow stick into the water to create a glowing effect in the fog. |
Dry Ice Fog
The rate of sublimation of Dry Ice is primarily governed by surface exposure and humidity. The smaller the pieces of Dry Ice, the quicker and more violently Dry Ice sublimates (as a result, Dry Ice nuggets are ideal for the smoke effect). The moister and warmer the atmosphere surrounding the Dry ICe the greater the rate of sublimation (so the best way to make smoke is to immerse the Dry Ice in HOT water).
The greatest tendency when using Dry Ice is to use too much of it in the hopes of getting more smoke. This is counter productive because it uses up your ice faster and cools down your water source which slows the rate of sublimation and creates less smoke! With Dry Ice,more is less and less is more!
An ideal mixture of Dry Ice and hot water is about 1 cup Dry Ice (8-12 nuggets) for every 4 litres of hot water. This mixture will blanket a room 10" X 15" with smoke for about 5-10minutes depending on ventilation and traffic. Do not waste your Dry Ice! Use minimal amounts of your Dry Ice and keep your water source hot! A good idea is to have at least two water pails or bins so you can rotate them and always have maximum heat and humidity to make smoke with.
Fans and/or hairdryers on a very low setting can help you move your smoke around your party area. Avoid high speed settings as they dissipate the smoke too quickly!
The greatest tendency when using Dry Ice is to use too much of it in the hopes of getting more smoke. This is counter productive because it uses up your ice faster and cools down your water source which slows the rate of sublimation and creates less smoke! With Dry Ice,more is less and less is more!
An ideal mixture of Dry Ice and hot water is about 1 cup Dry Ice (8-12 nuggets) for every 4 litres of hot water. This mixture will blanket a room 10" X 15" with smoke for about 5-10minutes depending on ventilation and traffic. Do not waste your Dry Ice! Use minimal amounts of your Dry Ice and keep your water source hot! A good idea is to have at least two water pails or bins so you can rotate them and always have maximum heat and humidity to make smoke with.
Fans and/or hairdryers on a very low setting can help you move your smoke around your party area. Avoid high speed settings as they dissipate the smoke too quickly!
Smoking Pumpkin
Choose a pumpkin large enough to hold a large can inside. Clean out the pumpkin and carve a friendly or a frightening face. Keep in mind, carbon dioxide fog sinks so more fog will flow out of the bottom.
When you are done cleaning out and carving your pumpkin, fill a large glass about half full with hot water and mix in a cup of salt. Use a glass that is taller than the eyes of your pumpkin in order to get fog to flow through all of the carvings.
Place the glass inside of the pumpkin. Wearing thick gloves, drop two or three large pieces of dry ice into the cup of water and cover the top of your pumpkin. Make sure the lid fits tightly to eliminate air currents dissipating the fog. As the water cools, add more hot water to maintain the fog effect. As a rule of thumb, one kg of dry ice will create 5-6 minutes of fog effect. The hotter the water, the more fog, but the quicker dissipation of the dry ice.
When you are done cleaning out and carving your pumpkin, fill a large glass about half full with hot water and mix in a cup of salt. Use a glass that is taller than the eyes of your pumpkin in order to get fog to flow through all of the carvings.
Place the glass inside of the pumpkin. Wearing thick gloves, drop two or three large pieces of dry ice into the cup of water and cover the top of your pumpkin. Make sure the lid fits tightly to eliminate air currents dissipating the fog. As the water cools, add more hot water to maintain the fog effect. As a rule of thumb, one kg of dry ice will create 5-6 minutes of fog effect. The hotter the water, the more fog, but the quicker dissipation of the dry ice.
Cauldron Brew Dry Ice Punch
To make a foggy dry ice punch bowl, you will need:
Instructions: Place an empty punch bowl into a large metal or plastic container half full with hot water and a few pieces of dry ice. Then add punch to the punch bowl, making sure that the dry ice does not come into contact with the punch. As the water cools, add more hot water to maintain the fog effect. As a rule of thumb, one kg of dry ice will create 5-6 minutes of fog effect. The hotter the water, the more fog, but the quicker dissipation of the dry ice.
- A large bowl for the dry ice
- A smaller bowl for the punch
- Hot water
- Dry ice
Instructions: Place an empty punch bowl into a large metal or plastic container half full with hot water and a few pieces of dry ice. Then add punch to the punch bowl, making sure that the dry ice does not come into contact with the punch. As the water cools, add more hot water to maintain the fog effect. As a rule of thumb, one kg of dry ice will create 5-6 minutes of fog effect. The hotter the water, the more fog, but the quicker dissipation of the dry ice.
Spooky Crawling Bubbles from Dry Ice
For this creepy Halloween party effect, you will need:
Fill the vase with warm water, add a few drops of detergent and food coloring, and carefully drop a piece of dry ice into the water. The dry ice will turn into a gas under water and make colorful bubbles that will crawl out of the vase and "pop" with a little cloud of carbon dioxide fog.
- A tall, clear plastic cylinder-shaped vase
- Warm water
- Dry ice
- Liquid dishwasher detergent
- Food colouring
Fill the vase with warm water, add a few drops of detergent and food coloring, and carefully drop a piece of dry ice into the water. The dry ice will turn into a gas under water and make colorful bubbles that will crawl out of the vase and "pop" with a little cloud of carbon dioxide fog.
Halloween Laser & Fog Fun
For this experiment, you will need:
Low powered VLDs and HeNe lasers do not produce visible beams in clear air. However, if you look directly into them, you can see a sparkling effect produced by the beam scattering off dust particles. Try mounting a laser on a tripod and aim it across a large field at night. Hike to the other end of the field and look back at the laser. In order to see the beam from larger angles requires the beam to be scattered by more than just dust. Drop chunks of dry ice into hot water for a dense, ground-hugging fog and see what happens to the beam. Do not allow anyone (including pets) to lie in this fog because too much CO2 can be toxic.
Fog Cutter - If you have dry ice fog filling a room for a Halloween party, try this:
Take a small polished cylindrical object, such as a drill bit, and aim the laser beam at the cylinder. The beam will spread out into a fan. Aiming the beam through a glass or clear plastic stirring rod will have the same effect. Now orient the cylinder or rod vertically so the laser fan sweeps out in a horizontal sheet. The laser beam should create spectacular cross section cuts in the fog.
- Any kind of laser beam or laser show machine
- A large container
- Dry ice
Low powered VLDs and HeNe lasers do not produce visible beams in clear air. However, if you look directly into them, you can see a sparkling effect produced by the beam scattering off dust particles. Try mounting a laser on a tripod and aim it across a large field at night. Hike to the other end of the field and look back at the laser. In order to see the beam from larger angles requires the beam to be scattered by more than just dust. Drop chunks of dry ice into hot water for a dense, ground-hugging fog and see what happens to the beam. Do not allow anyone (including pets) to lie in this fog because too much CO2 can be toxic.
Fog Cutter - If you have dry ice fog filling a room for a Halloween party, try this:
Take a small polished cylindrical object, such as a drill bit, and aim the laser beam at the cylinder. The beam will spread out into a fan. Aiming the beam through a glass or clear plastic stirring rod will have the same effect. Now orient the cylinder or rod vertically so the laser fan sweeps out in a horizontal sheet. The laser beam should create spectacular cross section cuts in the fog.