BANG in the Candy!

It's really boring these days and finally Jack Nohis squint at one thing- the piggy bank. Breaking of the piggy bank is an annual event for tweens for ages. Rush to the Honeydukes Sweetshop in Hogsmeade to purchase Pop Rocks, a popping candy that produces a 'pop' sound when dissolved in one's mouth.

What makes pop rocks 'pop'? Do they have an atom bomb inside? Is it a Big Bang Theory? This sounds ridiculous! Grasp your wand and say 'Reveal your secrets'...

Pop Rocks are small candy crystals that are made using sugar, water, corn syrup and little drops of chemical flavouring. These ingredients are blent together. Later, the resulting solution is heated up to 150 degree Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature increases and this leaves the water to evaporate. This mixture is then cooled down and forms a hard candy.

Well, what is the secret ingredient that makes the pop sound? To make the Pop Rocks pop, the mixture is exposed to carbon dioxide gas at 600 pounds per square inch (psi) or 40 bar. This process causes high-pressured bubbles to be trapped inside the candy.

Take the candy and put it in your mouth. The saliva dissolves the candy and it releases bubbles with a POP sound! The highly pressured carbon dioxide trapped inside the candy is made to release when you give pressure over the candy. The candy shatters into smaller pieces and if magnified, you can still see the high-pressure bubbles in the shattered pieces. The result would be a sizzling sound with a slight tingling sensation.

Myths Made Their Way:

Pop Rocks are weird and some people avoid this stuff. A rumour spread just like wildfire around the late 1960s that eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda at a time can make a person's stomach to blow! It's just a freaky old fib.