Chemistry of Popcorn!

 Three of my teens in the Chemistry Co-op class are miles ahead of their peers.  These three are going to do a couple labs and make instructional videos.  One of the labs we’re going to vet is the Gas Law Popcorn lab.  Here is another version.  I’m going to let the kids select the lab to use with the class.  Here and here are articles explaining the science of popcorn.  I want the kids to see how closely their results are to 14% water in the kernels.  One Chem teacher on Facebook suggests putting a layer of sand at the bottom of the Erlenmeyer flask before adding oil and popcorn.  We might try comparing results microwaving popcorn, too.  I’ll post the results.