WEBVTT - How do Pop Rocks candy work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff Works dot com

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<v Speaker 1>where smart Happens, brought to you by Visa. We all

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<v Speaker 1>Brain with today's question. How do pop rocks candies work?

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<v Speaker 1>It's definitely a technology candy. Nothing in nature works like

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<v Speaker 1>pop rocks do, so how do they work? One of

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<v Speaker 1>the funny things about pop rocks is that they're patented.

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<v Speaker 1>That means you can go and read the patent and

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<v Speaker 1>see exactly how they work. Here's the basic idea. Hard

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<v Speaker 1>candy like a lollipop, is made from sugar, corn syrup,

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<v Speaker 1>water and flavoring. You heat the ingredients together and boil

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<v Speaker 1>the mixture to drive off all the water. Then you

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<v Speaker 1>let the temperature rise. What you're left with is a

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<v Speaker 1>pure sugar syrup at about three undred degrees fahrenheit. When

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<v Speaker 1>it cools, you have hard candy. To make pop rocks,

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<v Speaker 1>the hot sugar mixture is allowed to mix with carbon

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<v Speaker 1>dioxide gas at about six hundred pounds per square inch

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<v Speaker 1>inside a pressurized container, the carbon dioxide gas forms tiny

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<v Speaker 1>six P s I bubbles in the candy. Once it cools,

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<v Speaker 1>you release the pressure in the candy shatters, but the

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<v Speaker 1>pieces still contain the high pressure bubbles. Look at a

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<v Speaker 1>piece of pop Rocks candy with a magnifying glass and

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<v Speaker 1>you can see those little bubbles. When you put the

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<v Speaker 1>candy in your mouth, it melts just like any hard

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<v Speaker 1>candy wood, and it releases the bubbles. What you're hearing

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<v Speaker 1>and feeling is the six d p s i carbon

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<v Speaker 1>dioxide gas being released from each bubble. Do you have

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<v Speaker 1>any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please

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<v Speaker 1>send me an email at podcast at how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. For more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>go to how stuff works dot com