EXPERIMENT
WARNING: Please follow all of the manufacturer's safety precautions listed on the container of acetone. This solvent is very flammable. Keep away from all flames.
Vanishing Peanuts
Use a solvent like acetone to show that polystyrene packaging material is mostly air. The acetone easily dissolves the polystyrene, leaving very little residue. Even though the experiment is called Melting Peanuts, the packaging material is actually dissolving (not melting) in the acetone (melting requires heat). Engage students in a peanut race by seeing which team can fill a bowl first with polystyrene peanuts. Of course, one bowl will secretly contain acetone! Use extreme care when handling acetone — follow the manufacturer’s directions for proper use and disposal.
Air Head - Vanishing Styrofoam Strips
A Styrofoam head used to display wigs is placed on the table along with with long strips of Styrofoam board, approximately 4 cm wide and 70 cm long (but this can vary). The demonstrator uses a Sharpie pen to write down anything important she wants the "head" to know. For this demo, the three R's of recycling were written down on each of three strips - REDUCE, RECYCLE, and REUSE. You'll also need a 250 mL beaker or
similar size glass.
- See more at: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/vanishing-styrofoam#sthash.TkGZN7jr.dpuf