Why marshmallows expand

When a marshmallow is given energy, in the form of heat, it increases the volume of air inside the marshmallow. This means that the marshmallow will just expand to accommodate the increased volume of air, making it puff up to 4 times its original size! A similar thing happens when you toast marshmallows on a fire!

Share your before and after photos, or videos, of marshmallows expanding with the hashtag STEMintoChristmas for your chance to be featured! How did turtles become able to retract their neck?

Could your hair turn white after a stressful event? How has NASA started growing lettuce in space? Kosher for Passover marshmallows can be obtained from your local store or online. It was pioneered by a couple of scientists from Emory University with a good sense of humor and too much time on their hands. Lucky us! Love this!! The presence of peeps in such an environment would clearly lead to disastrous results as illustrated above.

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This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. One may also ask, do marshmallows expand in water? It turns out NO marshmallow does not dissolve in water , and neither does it in ethanol solution or cooking oil. In oil, the marshmallow is unchanged in volume, texture, and taste.

However, something dissolves in water and Sake probably since it has water in it. Under normal conditions, molecules of air from the atmosphere called atmospheric pressure are pushing on the outside of the marshmallow. When the vacuum packer removes the air that was once pushing on the outside of the marshmallow , the air trapped inside the marshmallow pushes out expands causing it to get larger. When the syringe plunger is pulled out, the volume of the chamber increases but the amount of gas remains constant because it is in a closed system.

The pressure inside the syringe chamber decreases. The lower pressure on the marshmallow causes its vol- ume to increase according to Boyle's Law. As for your question, yes, you can microwave marshmallows. They will puff up when heated in the microwave , and then deflate back down as they melt and cool. If the bowl is not large enough, the marshmallows may puff up over the top, causing a sticky mess on the bowl and in your microwave. When you take the marshmallow out of the microwave and it cools off, the bubbles shrink and the sugar hardens again.

When the microwave marshmallow cools, it's dry and crunchy. If you cook your marshmallow for too long, it turns brown or black inside. That happens when the sugar gets so hot that it starts to burn. Gelatine is a starch that absorbs water — in fact, it can hold up to a hundred times its weight in water — and it is this magic ingredient that produces the fluffy texture in marshmallows.

By putting marshmallows in a jar or bottle and using the vacuum pump, you can remove gas around the marshmallows. The gas in the bubbles keeps pushing outward as less and less gas is available around the marshmallows to push back. The gas bubbles expand and the marshmallow puffs up.

It is used as a filling in baking, or commonly molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. Take one or two slices of fresh, moist bread and put them in a plastic resealable bag with the marshmallows.

After one or two days, the marshmallows should be soft again. Keep them that way by tightly sealing them and storing them in the freezer.

Melt Marshmallows in the Microwave Use a large, microwave-safe bowl. Add one bag of marshmallows. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water.

Put in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.