Hooked on Science: Shrinking chip bag

What happens when you put a chip bag in the microwave for five seconds?

Materials

* Empty Sun Chips bag

* Microwave

Instructions

Step 1: Place the empty Sun Chips bag in the microwave for five seconds.

Step 2: Remove the bag from the microwave and observe.

Explanation

The Sun Chips bag is made of polymers. Polymers are long chains of molecules. The polymers are heated and stretched to create the Sun Chips bag. When heated in the microwave, the polymers go from their stretched state to their natural state, creating the shrunken Sun Chips bag.

Jason Lindsey is a science outreach educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website www.hookedonscience.org for webcasts and experiments.