Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
How to make an artificial snowdrift and immediately "melt" it.
Equipment: diapers, scissors, table salt, glasses, spoon.
Cut a few diapers and pour their filler into a glass. Fill a plate with water and pour the filler on it – the filler absorbs most of the water and increases dramatically in size, beginning to resemble snow. Fill a glass with this "snow," add three teaspoons of table salt, and stir with a spoon – the snowdrift “melts” into a cloudy liquid.
Sodium polyacrylate’s long molecules contain many carboxyl groups. These carboxyl groups attract a lot of water, which causes the sodium polyacrylate powder to swell and increase significantly in size. This effect is reversible: when table salt is added, osmotic pressure arises, which draws the water molecules out of the structure of sodium polyacrylate – yielding liquid once again!
A similar experiment is included in the “Chemistry of winter” set from the MEL Chemistry subscription.
Warning! Only under adult supervision
How to make an artificial snowdrift and immediately "melt" it.
Equipment: diapers, scissors, table salt, glasses, spoon.
Cut a few diapers and pour their filler into a glass. Fill a plate with water and pour the filler on it – the filler absorbs most of the water and increases dramatically in size, beginning to resemble snow. Fill a glass with this "snow," add three teaspoons of table salt, and stir with a spoon – the snowdrift “melts” into a cloudy liquid.
Sodium polyacrylate’s long molecules contain many carboxyl groups. These carboxyl groups attract a lot of water, which causes the sodium polyacrylate powder to swell and increase significantly in size. This effect is reversible: when table salt is added, osmotic pressure arises, which draws the water molecules out of the structure of sodium polyacrylate – yielding liquid once again!
A similar experiment is included in the “Chemistry of winter” set from the MEL Chemistry subscription.
Warning! Only under adult supervision
