Candy Fiber
Jolly Rancher candies will be heated in a beaker until reaching a molten state to demonstrate the glass-liquid transition. · Using wooden skewers or popsicle sticks, candy fibers will be pulled from the molten candy to demonstrate the liquid-glass transition. The fiber will be almost instantly cooled once it is removed from the beaker due to the small diameter of the fiber and the temperature difference between the air and the molten candy. · Students can then eat the cooled fibers to again demonstrate the glass-liquid transition.
Glass is an amorphous solid, meaning that its atomic arrangement has no long-range order. · As glass is heated, its viscosity decreases until it flows like water (glass-liquid transition). · As glass cools, its viscosity slowly increases (liquid-glass transition), which allows the glass to be molded into many different shapes. · Glass-liquid transition typically occurs due to heating. · Liquid-glass transition typically occurs due to cooling or compression.