The Science Of Playing With Your Easter Candy

…that if you drink a Coke and consume an entire package of pop rocks, your stomach could explode. In the webcast the carbon dioxide-filled mixture will be safely tested in a bottle with a balloon attached to the top; pehaps you wish to try it with (your kid’s) stomach instead? My favorite stupid candy trick to be demonstrated is triboluminescence, the glow that results from chewing candy containing methyl salicylate, a chemical that absorbs ultraviolet light emitted by nitrogen which is excited and de-energized as visible light from friction when a person bites down on the candy’s sugar crystals. In English, sparks visible in the mirror of a dark bathroom shoot out of your mouth when you chew wintergreen-flavor Lifesavers. Another scientific mystery to be probed: the Maillard reaction, or sugar caramelization (not the same thing as chewey gooey caramels!). This reaction occurs when the aldehyde group of a sugar molecule reacts with nitrogen, but the exact steps involved still stump scientists today. A similarly mysterious chemical reaction that turns sugar into jelly beans was only fully determined by scientists a few years ago. And ever wonder where they get all of those new jelly bean flavors – like earwax? Bon appetite!