The soda pop pop

I’ve volunteered through Big Brothers Big Sisters for the past year and a half, or so. I have enjoyed spending time with my “little sister” on weekly basis.

We decided to ring in the new year, doing one of our favorite activities – science experiments.

I had a bunch of experiments lined up, two of which happened to involve cans of pop. I learned I do not know how to properly open a case of pop, as evidenced by the fact that they all rolled across the floor when I popped the cardboard case open. Thunk, thunk, clunk-clunk-clunk-clunk.

It was confirmed that it was quite a noisy ordeal, when I went into the office to borrow a Sharpie for the next experiment. My co-worker asked me if I was building on a room.

Yep, you betcha.

The first experiment involving pop went rather well. We rubbed the back of a Sharpie on the seam where the can opens, until it popped open. And pop it did (because soda cans are pressurized). I think it surprised everyone in the building, except me. I’m just doing my part to keep everyone’s heart healthy and beating.

Then, we switched to another experiment, watching the way dish soap interacts with the fats in milk, with the help of some food coloring. That was a pretty cool-looking activity.

While my Little was playing with the colors, I had started stuff for the next experiment. I started heating up a can of soda on the stove top and got an ice bath ready.

In theory, you flip the can upside down in the ice water and it sucks in the can. When I thought it was ready, we gave it a shot. It did nothing.

After some discussion, my Little and I went with the idea that the can was not warm enough, so I returned the can to the stove top and we went back to the other experiment.

I was just going to grab something for the next experiment when, pow!

The can of pop exploded all over everything.

I made sure my Little was fine, turned off the burner and picked the can off the floor with some tongs. Then, I pulled out the mop, before my Little pointed out the ceiling was splattered with soda. I started wiping the ceiling, walls and cupboards down before they stained.

My Little insisted on helping clean up. After some mopping and wiping down parts of the countertop, which were covered in puddles of pop, she said, “Oh no! Your bananas are sticky.”

Considering a 10-foot radius, floor to ceiling, around the stove was sticky, including a number of appliances and a bunch of cookware, I can’t say I was surprised. I told her I’d wipe them off later, to which she noted the peel of the banana would act like a barrier from the soda. Yep, my top concern is definitely the small bunch of bananas on my counter.

We cleaned for seven minutes (she counted) and then finished up the other experiment. After she went home, I spent another five hours cleaning (I was counting).

Honestly, it cleaned up easier than I expected it to and there don’t seem to be any noticeable remnants of the incident.

The next day, I decided to investigate what went wrong in the experiment. I found the video where I first learned of the activity and watched it back.

The moderator was doing 20 science experiments in five minutes, which comes to roughly 15 seconds per experiment. In the 15 seconds the moderator was on the experiment, she said the can should be empty, with just a little water at the bottom of the can.

At that point, I was mad at myself for missing that. I know I had talked to my boyfriend on the phone when I watched the video, so I had the volume low. That was a bad idea and I definitely learned from the mistake. The next time we do science experiments, I will watch the video much closer.

On the bright side, the incident served as the catalyst for me finally deep-cleaning my apartment.