Nitrogen is a vital part of life on Earth, making up 78% of the air we breathe. It’s involved in many cool processes, like creating unique drinks such as Starbucks’ Nitro Cold Brew. In this article, we’ll dive into how nitrogen is turned into a liquid from the air and how it’s used, including making ice cream at home!
Nitro Cold Brew is a tasty drink that has nitrogen gas added to it. This gives the coffee a slightly sweet taste without needing sugar and a creamy, frothy texture. But how does this happen? It’s all about the special properties of nitrogen and how it behaves when mixed with liquids.
To make liquid nitrogen, we need to cool down the air a lot. This is done with a device called a cryo-cooler, which works by compressing helium gas. The process has two main steps: first, the gas is compressed to heat it up, and then it’s allowed to expand, cooling it down to super cold temperatures below -200°C.
In a recent experiment, a team tried to turn air from the atmosphere into a liquid. With the help of Allen Pan, a creative maker and YouTuber, they set up the cryo-cooler and waited for hours. After four hours, they managed to produce about 50 milliliters of liquid air, which was impressive since it came from condensing around 35 liters of air!
Once they had liquid air, the next step was to get liquid oxygen. Liquid oxygen is attracted to magnets, a property called paramagnetism. By using magnets, they could separate droplets of liquid oxygen and confirm it was oxygen by doing a flame test, where the oxygen made a matchstick burn brighter.
The next challenge was to isolate nitrogen from the air. They used a special membrane that lets nitrogen through while blocking other gases. After setting up the system and pressurizing the air, they found that the nitrogen was over 99% pure! This pure nitrogen was then cooled down to make liquid nitrogen.
To keep the liquid nitrogen cold, they used a dewar, a special container for holding very cold liquids. After several tries and adjustments, they finally succeeded in making liquid nitrogen from the air.
With their liquid nitrogen ready, the team decided to make ice cream. By mixing cream and sugar with the liquid nitrogen, they quickly froze the mixture, creating a smooth texture with tiny ice crystals. The result was a delicious ice cream that showed off nitrogen’s cool properties!
Nitrogen isn’t just for ice cream; it’s also important in drinks like Nitro Cold Brew. When nitrogen is added to coffee, it forms tiny bubbles that give the drink a creamy feel. Unlike carbon dioxide, which can make drinks acidic, nitrogen doesn’t react with the liquid, making it perfect for coffee.
When you pour Nitro Cold Brew, you might notice bubbles moving down the sides of the glass. This happens because the nitrogen bubbles rise in the middle, creating a flow that pushes them down along the sides. This makes the drink look even more appealing!
Nitrogen is a plentiful and versatile element that plays a big role in many things, from making refreshing drinks to creating tasty ice cream. The process of turning nitrogen from the air into a liquid is a fascinating scientific adventure that shows the potential of this important gas. Whether you’re sipping on a Nitro Cold Brew or enjoying homemade ice cream, nitrogen’s unique properties make our food and drinks even better!
Try making your own Nitro Cold Brew at home! You’ll need cold brew coffee and a whipped cream dispenser with nitrogen cartridges. Carefully follow the instructions to add nitrogen to your coffee. Observe the changes in texture and taste, and write a short paragraph about how nitrogen affects the drink.
Using household materials, construct a simple model of a cryo-cooler. Use a balloon to represent the compression and expansion of gases. Explain how this model demonstrates the cooling process needed to liquefy nitrogen. Present your model to the class and discuss its limitations compared to a real cryo-cooler.
Conduct a small experiment to explore paramagnetism. Use a strong magnet and a small container of liquid oxygen (or a safe alternative like a paramagnetic solution). Observe how the liquid reacts to the magnet. Write a report on how this property helps in separating oxygen from liquid air.
Research how a dewar flask works and design your own using materials like foam, aluminum foil, and plastic bottles. Test its effectiveness by keeping ice cubes from melting. Record the time it takes for the ice to melt compared to a regular container, and discuss why a dewar is important for storing liquid nitrogen.
In a supervised setting, make ice cream using liquid nitrogen. Mix cream, sugar, and flavoring in a bowl, then slowly add liquid nitrogen while stirring. Observe the rapid freezing process and the texture of the ice cream. Write a reflection on how the properties of nitrogen contribute to the ice cream-making process.
Nitrogen – Nitrogen is a colorless, odorless gas that makes up about 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere and is essential for life. – Example sentence: In the lab, we learned that nitrogen is used to create a safe environment for certain chemical reactions.
Liquid – A liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape, allowing it to flow and take the shape of its container. – Example sentence: When water is heated to $100^circ C$, it changes from a liquid to a gas.
Ice Cream – Ice cream is a frozen dessert made from cream or milk, often combined with fruits or other ingredients, and is a practical example of a mixture in chemistry. – Example sentence: We used liquid nitrogen to rapidly freeze the mixture and make ice cream in our chemistry class.
Oxygen – Oxygen is a reactive gas that is essential for respiration and combustion, making up about 21% of the Earth’s atmosphere. – Example sentence: During the experiment, we observed how oxygen supports the burning of a candle.
Atmosphere – The atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding the Earth, composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen, and is crucial for sustaining life. – Example sentence: The Earth’s atmosphere protects us from harmful solar radiation and helps regulate temperature.
Experiment – An experiment is a scientific procedure undertaken to test a hypothesis or demonstrate a known fact. – Example sentence: Our science teacher guided us through an experiment to observe the effects of temperature on the solubility of salt in water.
Cryo-cooler – A cryo-cooler is a device used to cool materials to very low temperatures, often used in scientific research to study superconductivity. – Example sentence: The cryo-cooler helped us reach temperatures close to absolute zero for our physics experiment.
Bubbles – Bubbles are pockets of gas trapped within a liquid or solid, often seen in carbonated beverages or during chemical reactions. – Example sentence: We observed bubbles forming when we added vinegar to baking soda, indicating a chemical reaction.
Beverages – Beverages are liquids intended for drinking, and in chemistry, they can be studied to understand solutions and mixtures. – Example sentence: We analyzed different beverages to determine their acidity levels in our chemistry class.
Paramagnetism – Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism whereby certain materials are attracted by an externally applied magnetic field due to unpaired electrons. – Example sentence: In our physics class, we learned that aluminum exhibits paramagnetism when placed near a strong magnet.
