A mixture of white powder, lit on fire, resulting in a black 'snake' growing out of the flames. This is the carbon snake experiment. But how does it work?
There are actually 3 chemical reactions involved with this snake.
1) Sugar combusts when exposed to oxygen, producing carbon dioxide gas and water vapor.
2) Under the heat, some sugar is not exposed to oxygen, so it undergoes thermal decomposition instead, which produces more solid carbon and water vapor.
3) All of the carbon dioxide created by sugar's combustion creates pressure that pushes sodium carbonate out, thus dehydrating the carbon tower.
There are actually 3 chemical reactions involved with this snake.
1) Sugar combusts when exposed to oxygen, producing carbon dioxide gas and water vapor.
2) Under the heat, some sugar is not exposed to oxygen, so it undergoes thermal decomposition instead, which produces more solid carbon and water vapor.
3) All of the carbon dioxide created by sugar's combustion creates pressure that pushes sodium carbonate out, thus dehydrating the carbon tower.
