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Ice magic!

Instant ice

  • Put a small dry sponge securely in the bottom of a coloured (not clear) plastic cup. Make sure it won't fall out when you turn the cup over.
  • Place an ice cube in the cup on top of the sponge.
  • Tell your friends that you can turn water into ice instantly!!
  • Pour a small amount of water into the cup.
  • Say some magic words and turn the cup upside down.
  • What happens?  The ice cube will fall out but the sponge will have soaked up the water!

Raising ice

  • Raising ice!Put a few ice cubes into a glass.
  • Cut a piece of string approximately 15cm long and wet it.
  • Tell your friends that you can lift an ice cube with a piece of string without tying it around the cube!!
  • First let your friends have a go and then you can show them how it's done.
  • Rest a short length of one end of the string on an ice cube.
  • Sprinkle a little salt around the string on the cube's surface.
  • Wait 15 seconds and lift the cube from the glass!
  • What happens?  Salt lowers the freezing point of water which causes the wet string to freeze to the ice cube.