Dry Ice

Dry ice, actually solid CO2, can be obtained locally at:

• Food 4 Less - At the entrance. As of February 2008, it was $0.95/lb.
  

• Save-mart - At the western entrance. As of June 2008, it was $1.29/lb.
  

• Campus - But only if you work in a lab.

Don't touch dry ice with your bare skin; it burns.

Dry ice may be very useful for:

• Spooky effects on Halloween. Place some dry ice and water in a cauldron and eerie clouds of "steam" will bellow forth. When the water gets too cold, it will stop as the dry ice becomes encased in solid water.
  

• Keeping things like drinks cold.
  

• Making unusual noises by forcefully pressing the convex side of a spoon onto the surface of the ice.
  

• Making cold things like ice cream. Put the dry ice on top of the ice cream, not below, ideally with some thin cardboard in between. A little goes a long way — too much, and your ice cream will be rock hard.
  

• Making small explosions by placing some dry ice and water in a sealed soda bottle. NOTE: Dangerous and a Felony under 12301(a)(6).
  

• If you ever wish to do this, use thin plastic coke bottles rather than glass or thicker plastics which may form projectile shards. ~DavidPoole
  

• Using a rotary evaporator.. but only if you are working in a lab.

Comments:

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2008-04-18 16:29:05   It's much more fun to put liquid nitrogen in a bottle and watch it expand a lot before the bottle explodes! —BrandonBarrette
I would like to note that dry ice is fairly easy to acquire from the chemistry building stock rooms for 124L inorganic chemistry classes; however doing so would be quite unlawful and if you are going that far anyway you might as well get liquid nitrogen. ~DavidPoole