• Question: What makes popcorn pop?

    Asked by sophiecampbell to Mike, Tim, Tom on 5 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 5 Jul 2012:

      The unpopped corn contains a little bit of water inside a tough shell.
      When you heat it up, the corn and water want to expand, but can’t because the shell is too strong. Eventually, the pressure becomes so large that the shell bursts, and the corn pops.

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 5 Jul 2012:

      Great answer. I’ll try to add something – The pop noise is caused by the pressure waves created from the sudden movement of the popcorn shell as it explodes (and sound is just pressure waves of course)

Comments