Rollercoaster hosts Elliot Spencer and Ruben Meerman stand before an audience of children on a stage. In front of them is a desk with various containers on top of it, including a tank of liquid nitrogen. The children applaud.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Yay! Alright, alright. Oh!
ELLIOT SPENCER: I'm so excited about carrying on with this liquid nitrogen. What are we doing?
RUBEN MEERMAN: OK, well, Elliot, what I wanted to show you was, um… you know this container here, you may have noticed, first of all, it's not getting frosty on the outside.
Ruben gestures at the liquid nitrogen tank. Below it, a glass jug of liquid nitrogen has become frosty.
RUBEN MEERMAN: This one here keeps getting icy on the outside. Have you been wondering why that is?
ELLIOT SPENCER: Hmm.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Not really?
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yes, I have.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Oh, OK.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Well, that's because this is just like a great big thermos flask. And thermos flasks keep their contents either hot or cold while the outside stays at roughly room temperature. That's not really what I wanted you to notice. What I really wanted you to notice…
ELLIOT SPENCER: Was the lid.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Yes. That's a weird looking lid, isn't it?
Ruben removes the circular lid. It has a frozen cylinder coming down from the centre of it.
ELLIOT SPENCER: It's kind of weird, but what is making me really alarmed is the fact that it's wobbly!
Elliot shakes the lid once it has been put back on the liquid nitrogen tank. It wobbles loosely.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Oh, yeah.
ELLIOT SPENCER: A wobbly lid!
RUBEN MEERMAN: If you knock that bottle over…
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yeah. (Mimics explosion)
RUBEN MEERMAN: ..the lid comes out, liquid nitrogen goes everywhere. Most people find that really, really strange. Why would you have a loose lid on a container full of a dangerous liquid? We need an experiment.
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yes.
RUBEN MEERMAN: OK.
ELLIOT SPENCER: We do!
Ruben picks up a cylindrical green container with an airtight lid.
RUBEN MEERMAN: So, here's another container. This one has a tight-fitting lid, right? When I snap that lid on top of there, it's airtight. I'm gonna pour some liquid nitrogen into this container…
ELLIOT SPENCER: Mm-hm.
RUBEN MEERMAN: ..and we'll do a comparison.
Ruben points from the loose-fitting liquid nitrogen tank lid to the green cylinder lid.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Loosely, tightly. I wonder what's going to happen?
Ruben puts the lid on the green cylinder that now contains liquid nitrogen.
ELLIOT AND RUBEN: One, two, three…
The lid of the green cylinder shoots up into the air with a pop.
ELLIOT AND RUBEN: Yeah!
ELLIOT SPENCER: It's gone for pop-offs! Why is it doing that? Ooh!
RUBEN MEERMAN: Elliot, well, hang on. First…
Elliot picks a small box up from the table.
RUBEN MEERMAN: What have you got there?
ELLIOT SPENCER: Confetti.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Put it on.
Elliot pours confetti out onto the lid of the green cylinder.
ELLIOT SPENCER: (Sings) # Someone's getting married… #
RUBEN MEERMAN: OK, that's enough. Oh, gee whiz, he loves the confetti. Alright, one more time with confetti.
Ruben pushes the airtight lid tightly onto the green cylinder.
RUBEN MEERMAN: One, two… three. (Whimpers)
The lid pops off into the air, spraying confetti over the stage.
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yeah!
The children applaud.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Confetti everywhere.
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yippee-yi-yay!
RUBEN MEERMAN: Thank you.
ELLIOT SPENCER: Oh, congratulations, congratulations. Congratulations, congratulations. Yes!
RUBEN MEERMAN: Now, we need to explain what's going on here. And it's actually very simple to explain. Liquid nitrogen, like all liquids, evaporates. It evaporates at a temperature of minus-196 degrees Celsius. Now, planet Earth is much, much hotter than minus-196. So as this liquid evaporates, it turns into gas, and that gas needs to reach room temperature. What do gases do as they get warm? Do you remember?
ELLIOT SPENCER: Expand.
RUBEN MEERMAN: They get bigger. Now, to prove all of that, I've got another experiment for you. Hm-hm. Here it is.
ELLIOT SPENCER: Oh.
Ruben places a Buchner flask on the table. An uninflated balloon is attached to the tube leading out from its side.
RUBEN MEERMAN: In this container…
ELLIOT SPENCER: The balloon on a bottle.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Yes. This is called a Buchner flask. And we're going to pour some liquid nitrogen into this container, put the lid on top and then watch what happens.
ELLIOT SPENCER: OK. Do I need to put my fingers in my ears?
RUBEN MEERMAN: Yes, Elliot, you are going to need to put your fingers in your ears. But I won't be able to use my fingers to put in my ears. I'm doing exactly what you're doing — we're making ear plugs out of paper towel.
The hosts stuff paper towels into their ears.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Elliot can't hear me now. But all you people in the audience, I really recommend your fingers in your ears. This is incredibly loud. This balloon's gonna get huge. Let's go. Are you ready?
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yeah, I've already had dinner.
RUBEN MEERMAN: OK, excellent. In goes the liquid nitrogen.
Ruben pours liquid nitrogen into the Buchner flask.
RUBEN MEERMAN: And then… on goes the lid. Here we go. One…
ELLIOT AND RUBEN: ..two, three!
Ruben holds on the lid of the Buchner flask. Immediately the balloon begins to inflate. It has a smiley face on it. The children laugh.
ELLIOT SPENCER: Whoa! Oh, you're laughing now, but wait! Wait till it's as big as this room and we're all like, 'Is it gonna blow yet?'
RUBEN MEERMAN: Getting pretty big. (Chuckles)
ELLIOT SPENCER: Who drew that face?
RUBEN MEERMAN: Whoa! That is a big balloon. Big.
Suddenly the huge inflated balloon pops and everyone screams.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Do you want to see another one?
CHILDREN: Yeah!
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yeah!
Text on screen: 'Science Week 2008. Round or Long Balloon.'
RUBEN MEERMAN: Another round balloon or a long one?
CHILDREN: Long one!
RUBEN MEERMAN: I think they want a long one.
Ruben places a long balloon on the tube leading out from the Buchner flask.
RUBEN MEERMAN: One, two… three!
Ruben holds on the lid and the long balloon starts to inflate.
RUBEN MEERMAN: No, not too far! Oh. Uh-oh.
The balloon now has inflated so it stretches across the whole length of the table. Elliot and Ruben gasp fearfully.
ELLIOT SPENCER: No, it's gonna…
RUBEN MEERMAN: That's terrifying.
ELLIOT SPENCER: I'm really, really scared now. Please pop. Please pop.
The large inflated long balloon explodes and everyone screams.
RUBEN MEERMAN: OK, well… (Chuckles) How are you feeling?
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yeah…
RUBEN MEERMAN: OK.
ELLIOT SPENCER: I'm feeling great! But…
RUBEN MEERMAN: Excellent. So, if you just stand next to me, we're gonna spray liquid nitrogen into the air. What that will do is immediately turn any water vapour in the air into its cloud form, liquid water. Let's stand over here.
Ruben and Elliot move over to the side of the stage. Ruben holds the Buchner flask, which still is brimming with liquid nitrogen.
RUBEN MEERMAN: And, um, alright, here we go. On the count of three.
ELLIOT AND RUBEN: One, two, three!
Ruben sprays the nitrogen out of the tube into the air. Clouds form.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Whoa!
ELLIOT: Oh, yes!
RUBEN: Yeah! Whoo-hoo!
ELLIOT SPENCER: Yes, yes!
Ruben, laughing, addresses a person out of shot.
RUBEN MEERMAN: Oh, sorry. You alright? There you go.
ELLIOT SPENCER: You know what I've learnt?
RUBEN MEERMAN: What have you learnt, Elliot?
ELLIOT SPENCER: I don't know! I'm having too much fun!
Text on screen: 'Science Week 2008. Don't try this at home! This carefully controlled mayhem was conducted by experienced presenters in a supervised theatre.'