ROCK CANDY - a la Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

Solids and liquids and gases, oh my. You can make a sugary snack while you see the three phases of matter. All you have to do is perform this experiment.

MATERIALS:

1. An adult.
2. A pot to boil water in.
3. One cup of water.
4. Two cups of sugar.
5. A wooden spoon for stirring.
6. A glass jar, like an old jelly or peanut butter jar.
Make sure it's clean.
7. Some string.
8. A pair of scissors.
9. A pencil.
10. Some plastic wrap.

DO NOT FORGET THE FIRST ITEM IN THE MATERIALS LIST -- THE ADULT.

THIS EXPERIMENT REQUIRES A STOVE, WHICH CAN BE VERY VERY HOT AND DANGEROUS.
BELIEVE ME, I KNOW.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Get the adult to boil the cup of water.
2. Once it's boiling, add two cups of sugar.
3. Stir with the wooden spoon a bit and continue to boil.
4. While that's happening, cut a piece of string and tie it to
the middle of the pencil. Test the length by laying the pencil over
the mouth of the jar -- the end of the string should not touch
the bottom of the jar.
5. Once the sugar is dissolved in the water, have the adult pour
the liquid into the glass jar.
6. Lay the pencil over the mouth of the jar so the string is dangling in
the liquid.
7. Wait for the steam to stop rising out of the jar. When it stops, cover
the mouth of the jar with plastic wrap.
8. Put the jar in a safe place where it won't be disturbed.
9. In a few days, pull the string out of the jar.

You started with a liquid, saw some steam, and, if you followed the experiment, you've ended up with a solid. Sorry, but they're not diamonds -- it's rock candy. Normally you should never taste any science experiment, but this is an exception. Isn't science sweet?

(from SUGARCRAFT/ROCK CANDY)