Door 1: Make a Pringles rocket

Did you know that you can turn a regular Pringles box into a rocket? In the first door of this year's Christmas calendar, Inge and Magne make a hydrogen gas rocket that goes off with a bang.

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The Joule calendar is made by Inge Christ, head of The School Laboratory of Science at UiS, and UiS professor Magne Sydnes. For the seventh year in a row, they make a Christmas calendar with chemistry and physics experiments, popular amongst both young and old.

The Joule calendar 2021 strikes a blow for good old-fashioned hydrogen gas production. A Pringles box is filled with hydrogen gas and ignited via a fuse that enters the box. When it burns and the hydrogen gas is mixed with oxygen, the two react and release energy by firing the box into the air with a bang.

NB! Experiments must always follow the safety rules that apply to laboratory experiments. Remember hearing protection and goggles.

You need: 

  • An empty Pringles box 
  • Fuse  
  • Hydrochloric acid 
  • Zinc bits 
  • A flask with cork and hose 
  • A piece of cotton 

Recipe:

  1. Wear safety goggles and hearing protection.
  2. Make a small hole in the bottom and top of the box. Use the lid.
  3. Seal the top hole with the cotton swab.
  4. In the flask: Add hydrochloric acid (30-50 ml) and 10-15 pieces of zinc.
  5. Insert the hose into the hole at the bottom of the box. Leave it for a while so that the box is filled with hydrogen gas.
  6. Turn the box over. Take out the cotton and insert the fuse.
  7. Light the fuse and pull away.

Here is the chemical formula for what you see:

The hydrogen gas is formed in this way:

Zn (s) + 2HCl®Zn2 + (aq) + 2Cl- (aq) + H2 (g)

About UiS Christmas Calendar 2021:

The Joule calendar is made by Inge Christ, head of The School Laboratory of Science at UiS, and UiS professor Magne Sydnes. For the seventh year in a row, they make a Christmas calendar with chemistry and physics experiments, popular amongst both young and old. This year there is so much energy in circulation that the Christmas calendar was renamed " The Joule calendar". Joule" is one of several units for measuring energy and is pronounced “jul” in Norwegian. With “jul” being the Norwegian word for Christmas, “joule calendar” makes up a fun pun!

This year’s calendar includes a mixture of experiments that can be done at home without the risk of blowing up the house as well as experiments that should only be performed in a lab while taking the necessary precaution