A baking powder submarine is a plastic toy submarine that dives and surfaces with the addition of baking powder. Baking powder submarines are sometimes misidentified as "baking soda submarines"; however, baking soda alone dissolves but does not react when placed in water.
In 1953 Benjamin and Harry Hirsch, two brothers in a cosmetics company, discovered that carbon dioxide gas bubbles produced in wet baking powder as part of the chemical leavening process could be used to make a toy submarine dive up and down in fresh water.
They sold their idea to the Kellogg's breakfast cereal company in 1954. [1] : 34 Buoyed by the popularity of the first American atomic submarine USS Nautilus commissioned in that year, a million 4.5-inch (110 mm) plastic ship model prizes were produced by May. They were mailed out in return for a fee of 25 cents and one cereal boxtop. A smaller 2.5-inch (64 mm) version was later produced to be used as a cereal box prize not requiring separate redemption by mail. [2] [3]
Baking powder is placed into a compartment in the bottom of the toy which is sealed except for a small hole (or holes). The toy sinks when placed into water, but after a few seconds, enough water leaks in to react with the baking powder and produce carbon dioxide bubbles. The resulting foam creates just enough buoyancy in the toy for it to rise towards the surface of the water. When the toy surfaces, it capsizes, releasing the gas into the air. The toy sinks, beginning the reaction again and repeating the entire process. [1] : 35
The same principle of operation was later used for toy frogmen powered by baking powder in a small container on the foot of the figure. However, some other cereal prizes were cartesian divers, which operated on a different principle and did not require baking powder.
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made foods, having been of significance since the dawn of agriculture, and plays an essential role in both religious rituals and secular culture.
Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation (Na+) and a bicarbonate anion (HCO3−). Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline, but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). The natural mineral form is nahcolite. It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs.
Sodium carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water. Historically, it was extracted from the ashes of plants grown in sodium-rich soils. Because the ashes of these sodium-rich plants were noticeably different from ashes of wood, sodium carbonate became known as "soda ash". It is produced in large quantities from sodium chloride and limestone by the Solvay process, as well as by carbonating sodium hydroxide which is made using the Chlor-alkali process.
Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods. It works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid–base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. The first single-acting baking powder, which releases carbon dioxide at room temperature as soon as it is dampened, was developed by food manufacturer Alfred Bird in England in 1843. The first double-acting baking powder, which releases some carbon dioxide when dampened, and later releases more of the gas when heated by baking, was first developed by Eben Norton Horsford in the U.S. in the 1860s.
In cooking, a leavening agent or raising agent, also called a leaven or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action that lightens and softens the mixture. An alternative or supplement to leavening agents is mechanical action by which air is incorporated. Leavening agents can be biological or synthetic chemical compounds. The gas produced is often carbon dioxide, or occasionally hydrogen.
Carbonated water is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescent quality. Common forms include sparkling natural mineral water, club soda, and commercially produced sparkling water.
Sodium silicate is a generic name for chemical compounds with the formula Na
2xSi
yO
2y+x or (Na
2O)
x·(SiO
2)
y, such as sodium metasilicate Na
2SiO
3, sodium orthosilicate Na
4SiO
4, and sodium pyrosilicate Na
6Si
2O
7. The anions are often polymeric. These compounds are generally colorless transparent solids or white powders, and soluble in water in various amounts.
A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. Oxygen is added to replenish the amount metabolised by the user. This differs from open-circuit breathing apparatus, where the exhaled gas is discharged directly into the environment. The purpose is to extend the breathing endurance of a limited gas supply, and, for covert military use by frogmen or observation of underwater life, eliminating the bubbles produced by an open circuit system and in turn not scaring wildlife being filmed. A rebreather is generally understood to be a portable unit carried by the user. The same technology on a vehicle or non-mobile installation is more likely to be referred to as a life-support system.
A Cartesian diver or Cartesian devil is a classic science experiment which demonstrates the principle of buoyancy and the ideal gas law. The first written description of this device is provided by Raffaello Magiotti, in his book Renitenza certissima dell'acqua alla compressione published in 1648. It is named after René Descartes as the toy it is said to have been invented by him.
Soda lime, a mixture of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and calcium oxide (CaO), is used in granular form within enclosed breathing environments like general anesthesia and its breathing circuit, submarines, rebreathers, and recompression chambers. Its purpose is to eliminate carbon dioxide from breathing gases, preventing carbon dioxide retention and, eventually, carbon dioxide poisoning. The creation of soda lime involves treating slaked lime with a concentrated sodium hydroxide solution.
Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added, such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consuming skilled labor and temperature control needed for traditional yeast breads.
Tarnish is a thin layer of corrosion that forms over copper, brass, aluminum, magnesium, neodymium and other similar metals as their outermost layer undergoes a chemical reaction. Tarnish does not always result from the sole effects of oxygen in the air. For example, silver needs hydrogen sulfide to tarnish, although it may tarnish with oxygen over time. It often appears as a dull, gray or black film or coating over metal. Tarnish is a surface phenomenon that is self-limiting, unlike rust. Only the top few layers of the metal react. The layer of tarnish seals and protects the underlying layers from reacting.
Pop Rocks, also called popping candy, is a candy owned by Zeta Espacial S.A. Pop Rocks ingredients include sugar, lactose, and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that pressurized carbon dioxide gas bubbles are embedded inside of the candy, creating a small popping reaction when it dissolves.
Ammonium carbonate is a salt with the chemical formula (NH4)2CO3. Since it readily degrades to gaseous ammonia and carbon dioxide upon heating, it is used as a leavening agent and also as smelling salt. It is also known as baker's ammonia and is a predecessor to the more modern leavening agents baking soda and baking powder. It is a component of what was formerly known as sal volatile and salt of hartshorn, and produces a pungent smell when baked.
Quick bread is any bread leavened with a chemical leavening agent rather than a biological one like yeast or sourdough starter. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consuming skilled labor and the climate control needed for traditional yeast breads.
Beer head is the frothy foam on top of beer and carbonated beverages which is produced by bubbles of gas, predominantly carbon dioxide, rising to the surface. The elements that produce the head are wort protein, yeast and hop residue. The carbon dioxide that forms the bubbles in the head is produced during fermentation as yeasts break down sugar-rich molecules to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The carbonation can occur before or after bottling the beer. If the beer continues fermenting in the bottle, then it naturally carbonates and the head is formed upon opening and/or pouring the beer. If the beer is pasteurized or filtered then the beer must be force carbonated using pressurized gas.
A spile is a small wooden or metal peg used to control the flow of air into, and carbon dioxide out of, a cask of ale. Spiles can also be used to broach water from trees.
Monocalcium phosphate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca(H2PO4)2 ("AMCP" or "CMP-A" for anhydrous monocalcium phosphate). It is commonly found as the monohydrate ("MCP" or "MCP-M"), Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O. Both salts are colourless solids. They are used mainly as superphosphate fertilizers and are also popular leavening agents.
A soda geyser is a reaction between a carbonated beverage, usually Diet Coke, and Mentos mints that causes the beverage to be expelled from its container. The candies catalyze the release of gas from the beverage, which creates an eruption that pushes most of the liquid up and out of the bottle.
A cereal box prize, also known as a cereal box toy in the UK and Ireland, is a form of advertising that involves using a promotional toy or small item that is offered as an incentive to buy a particular breakfast cereal. Prizes are found inside or sometimes on the cereal box. The term "cereal box prize" is sometimes used as a broader term to also include premiums that can be ordered through the mail from an advertising promotion printed on the outside of the cereal box.