Super Science Friday - Molecules

Shaking Cream

We put some cream in a container and added a marble.  We did the lid up tight and shook it!
Our predictions:

• The cream would get thick.
• The colour would come out of the marble and turn the cream blue.
• The marble would break the molecules up and change the cream (Mrs Hayman had happy tears when she heard that one!)

After much shaking the cream separated into buttermilk and fat solids - BUTTER!  We ate our butter on some fresh bread.  It was delicious.

The science behind the experiment:
Heavy cream is an emulsion.  In cream, tiny globules of fat are suspended mostly in water.  By shaking the cream you are forcing the fat globules to slam into one another.  If they hit one another with enough force, they will simply stick together, the fat collection becoming bigger and bigger, forming a chunk of butter.