The Physics and Chemistry of Frozen Pumpkins

The recent polar vortex that froze a good part of North America over the last few days reminded me of this demonstration that Randy Sullivan from the Chemistry Department puts on every year.  It’s a frozen pumpkin drop with a pumpkin frozen in liquid nitrogen.  It’s fun to partner with students to make some of these videos like the one here.  It’s an old one, but still shows off some of our work on science education and outreach. Click here or on the video to see these pumpkins plummet.