Gummi Bear Explosion: Candy Immolates When Mixed With Potassium Chlorate

Baking soda and vinegar volcanos have been used in science classes for generations. And most people are familiar with the urban legend about Mikey, the kid from the Life cereal commercials who supposedly mixed Pop Rocks and soda, causing an explosion that killed him.

Well, have you ever seen what happens when you drown a Gummy Bear in a test tube of potassium chlorate?

As you can see in the above video, the mixture causes multiple explosions sure to delight any classroom of bored teenagers.

The reason for the major reaction lies in the fact that potassium chlorate decomposes at high temperatures to potassium chloride and oxygen gas, which mixed with the sucrose in a gummi bear, creates fire. "The reaction is hugely exothermic, producing MORE heat which produces MORE oxygen which drives the gummi bear into complete annihilation," explains the blog, A Schooner of Science.

And this experiment is already becoming a staple in some schools, such as chemical engineering classes at the University of Utah.

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