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How to Make Glass Out of Sugar for a Science Project

A fun science project for kids is demonstrating how special effects in movies are made. These can demonstrate a solid scientific principle and yet are fun for children to work on. One project of this type is to make glass out of sugar. This is a simple enough project that demonstrates the varying states a material can exist in. This experiment lets kids get a taste of some movie prop-making techniques.

Things You'll Need

  • Water
  • Corn syrup
  • Clay
  • Cream of tartar
  • Sugar
  • Food coloring
  • Non-Stick cooking spray
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Instructions

    • 1

      Press the object you want to make a mold of into your clay. The mold will only create half of the object, so you have to make two sets of sugar glass and put the two halves together. If your science project is focused on special effects, you could demonstrate how to use half a bottle for a bottle smash and make it look like a whole bottle using camera angles and editing. If you want to make a pane of glass that can be broken, simply pour the sugar mixture onto a cookie sheet.

    • 2

      Spray your mold with non-stick cooking spray. This will let the sugar glass come free after it cools. Spray both flat and clay molds.

    • 3

      Mix the ingredients together in a large pot. Increase the amounts while keeping the ratio consistent if you need to make a larger batch. A base recipe is 3 1/2 cups sugar, 2 cups of water and 1 cup of corn syrup. You should also add a 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar to this mix.

    • 4

      Heat the mixture very slowly. You do not want the sugar to caramelize. Measure the temperature of the water with a candy thermometer as you heat it. Warm it up until it hits 300 degrees. Heat it so slowly that it takes about an hour to get to this heat. If the water starts to turn brown, you have cooked the mixture too quickly.

    • 5

      Add food coloring to the mixture when it is nearly ready to pour if you want colored glass.

    • 6

      Pour the mixture carefully into the mold. Make sure it is evenly coating the shape you want to form. Let the mixture cool until it is hard.

    • 7

      Remove the sugar glass carefully from the mold. To keep sugar glass for a longer period of time, keep it at room temperature. Do not refrigerate it and do not let it become too warm.

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