What makes the “POP!?”
Monday, October 12, 2009
Children are notorious for their inquisitive minds. They are always asking “why” and “how,” often to responses of: “I don’t know—it just does.” With the amount of information available today, the answer to most of these questions is often just a click away.
Recently my four-year-old posited the question: what makes popcorn pop? Unsatisfied with the “I don’t know” answer, I decided to look it up. It turns out that the answer is fairly simple: water. Every kernel contains a small amount of water in it and when heated enough it turns into steam and expands, creating the “pop!