In March, as part of their ‘Matter’ topic, Science teacher, Ms Figiel, demonstrated the Screaming Jelly Baby experiment for her Year 7 group. The experiment shows the chemical changes that occur in the oxidation reaction between a jelly baby and potassium chlorate and also the amount of energy contained in the sugar-based sweet.
Potassium chlorate is an oxidising white powder (solid) which turns into a liquid when heated (a change in its state of matter). The jelly baby is put into the boiling tube and reacts with the liquid as soon as it comes into contact with it, causing the sweet to burst into flames and produce a screaming/roaring sound as rapidly expanding gases are emitted.
The students were able to observe several chemical changes - production of light, sound, gases and that a totally different product was formed.
No jelly babies were actually harmed in the making of this experiment and the lab smelled of toasted marshmallows for the rest of day!