CAUTION!! Be careful with this!! This experiment uses a knife AND a microwave, so you’re playing with things that slice and gets things hot. If you’re not careful you could cut yourself or burn yourself. Please use care!


We’re going to create the fourth state of matter in your microwave using food.  Note – this is NOT the kind of plasma doctors talk about that’s associated with blood.  These are two entirely different things that just happen to have the same name.  It’s like the word ‘trunk’, which could be either the storage compartment of a car or an elephant’s nose.  Make sense?


Plasma is what happens when you add enough energy (often in the form of raising the temperature) to a gas so that the electrons break free and start zinging around on their own.  Since electrons have a negative charge, having a bunch of free-riding electrons causes the gas to become electrically charged.  This gives some cool properties to the gas.  Anytime you have charged particles (like naked electrons) off on their own, they are referred to by scientists as ions.  Hopefully this makes the dry textbook definition make more sense now (“Plasma is an ionized gas.”)


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214 Responses to “Plasma Grape”

  1. Billy Cripe says:

    My 12 year old has two questions about this experiment

    1. In the plasma grapes experiment it states that the plasma is caused by electrons zinging off from the atom on their own. In the previous video you stated that electrons can not exist on their own but move in and out of other electron fields, can you please clarify and explain? Thanks.

    2. How can you tell if a particle is positively ionized or negatively ionized?

  2. Jennifer Atchison says:

    This is so cool! I can’t believe a single grape can catch on fire!

  3. Michelle Lindsey says:

    the first one didn’t work but the second one was really cool.

  4. You’ve got the right idea – move the grape around until you hit that special spot where the energy is concentrated in your microwave. Some microwaves perform this experiment better than others, so I’d take a handful of grapes to the next friend I visit and share it with them.

    Tip: You can also change the height that the grape is at by placing it on an inverted glass.

  5. Almira Malley says:

    24 grapes, 2 succeeded. Now that’s trial and error!!! tried moving grape and extending time. any advice?

  6. We just tried this experiment — what fun! It was especially great that it *didn’t* work the first couple of times, because then the kids had to come up with ideas for how to change things to get the expected reaction. We tried extending the time and then moving the grape around, and eventually hit the sweet spot. After our grape success we tried a cherry tomato, which also worked!

    Thanks for the fun experiment! We’re looking forward to our next adventure!

  7. Shelli Hutchison says:

    Wow! I showed my dad that and he thought it was the coolest thing ever! It looked like a star wars bomb! ZAAAAPP!

  8. This……is…….so……..cool!!!!!! I LOVED it.

  9. Carrie Devers says:

    That was soo cool!!! I can’t wait to show my science class next Wednesday!! Maybe I’ll ask the English teacher today if we can do it in her microwave, cause I can’t wait!

  10. Lorelei Grecian says:

    It stunk a lot but it was very cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  11. Catalina Posada says:

    It really worked!!! to the ones that complain that they have a light in the microwave try this: get the kitchen all dark, wait untill night, if necessary, ant then try it….. underful!

  12. Shawn Priest says:

    Woo Hoo! The kids just did 15 grapes in a row. Will they every stop? Now trying blueberries! It worked too!

  13. Brandi Robison says:

    it works good with several grapes

  14. Genius! 🙂 You’ve got it right. The real trick is describing it to kids in a way that makes sense, and you did an excellent job.

    Plasma is an ionized gas and acts differently than gases. Think of plasma as a gas that has atoms zipping and jiggling around so fast that they knock electrons off each other – electrons that are free to move around inside the gas. You can visually see this effect when it glows – just like the sun, neon signs, etc. It’s such a tiny flap of skin that gets zapped to produce such a bright puff of plasma…imagine if we had a larger power source?

  15. Glen Larson says:

    All right, I’ll take the challenge (I was posting that question for my kids): I would guess that the small section of grape that is connected is where the action is, because it is small enough for the microwave(s) to work. If the area were larger, you’d need a lot more microwaves to heat up the whole grape, and the average household microwave doesn’t have what it takes. And that answers (partly) the other question. Other foods do not turn to plasma because it would take a lot more power than we can direct at them to do so. Also, because their electrolytic composition is not conducive to that, either because they are composed of too much solid and not enough liquid, or because the liquid that does make them up does not have enough electrolytes.
    Don’t know if I explained that very well – tell me if I got it right, and what the real reason is. Then my kids will know that their dad is either a genius, or stupid. 🙂

  16. Wow – cool! I knew cherry tomatoes worked, but I didn’t think to try the cherry itself. As for your question, scroll through the comments (there are a lot, I know) and see if you can hazard a guess,,, and then let me know. I promise to answer after you get a first poke at the answer. 🙂

  17. Glen Larson says:

    Ok, so we didn’t have any grapes in the house, but we tried it with a cherry (pit removed), and it worked!

    So why don’t ALL of our foods turn to plasma when we microwave them? And why do we need to keep the two parts together?

  18. Jennifer Stevens says:

    This was awesome!!! My son started trying several different things with this and decided to put 4 grapes in and had them all touching. Anywhere it touched it made the sparks! My son LOVED it!

  19. Donald Walker says:

    That is cool that I can make plasma. I’ve read about it in my science book, but never knew I could make it. My dad liked it to. My mother would freak out if she heard we did that (or maybe not.)

    Donald Walker’s Son

  20. Lindsay Montgomery says:

    : )

  21. That’s the part that ionizes in the microwave – the part that has a thin layer of water vapor suspended in just the right spot so that when the atoms are excited into a higher level, they actually turn quickly into vapor, and then into plasma because the gases are so excited that the atoms are knocking electrons off each other… so this thin skin is needed to provide the material for this interaction.

    Try it without the skin and see what happens!

  22. Missy Meskell says:

    Why does it have to have the skin between the two grape halfs?

    Nathan

  23. No – it usually works with all kinds of grapes as long as they’re not too shriveled up. Try different spots in your microwave – look at the comments to see what worked for other families to get more ideas…

  24. Theresa Gartrell says:

    Okay so we are having no luck with the grapes. Tried two different microwaves and green grapes. Should we try purple or red grapes? Does that make a difference?

  25. Jennifer Shaffer says:

    My husband said, “I loved it! It was like Star Wars in my microwave!” My kids said, “That was AWESOME!” Amazing that you could hear the crackling noise – I imagine we’re hearing the electrically charged ions? Is that right? Cool stuff!!! Thanks!

  26. Danielle Elizalde says:

    WICKED AWESOME AND COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  27. Lisa Lynch says:

    From my 9 y.o.:
    This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    This is the BEST science i EVER tried!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  28. Tara Moore says:

    It is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Dolton Moore 9years old I am a twin Lexi Moore9 years old.

  29. Tara Moore says:

    It ‘s very ccccccccccccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Lexi Moore 9years old

  30. Carolyn Norville says:

    This is very coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  31. Hi Ann,

    Oops! I missed this question – sorry about that! Here’s the answer to your questions:

    1. Yes, when you run the microwave, it does superheat the water vapor molecules in the air, but there just isn’t enough of it to make have that effect. And yes, air does circulate around inside.

    2. Plasma is higher energized state than gas, so when it cools off, the substance reverts to a less energized state, like gas or liquid. It is the same molecules gas unless you’ve heated it up enough to cause particle collisions called fusion (like inside the sun).

    The substance remains the same as it was before, but the term ‘ion’ means that it has gained or lost an electron (and in our case, it’s lost an electron), so it now has a charge (positive in our case). The number of protons in the nucleus of the atom determine the type of element you’ve got. And to change the number of protons in the center requires a linear accelerator. The gas that is ionized is the water vapor.

    3. Yes, the electrons are attracted to the water ions as the plasma cools to gas. When the water vapor molecules cool down (slow down) enough to stop whacking into each other (with so much force that they knock off each others electrons), they start to form the gas. When you cool them down further, their vibrational motion (which is exactly what temperature measures) slow and this enables them to link together loosely into their liquid state. You get ice when the vibrational motion is so slow that the molecules link strongly together and form a crystal structure (which is a hexagon shape with a hole in the center for water, which is why water is one of the only substances that expand when cooled into a solid). When you add energy (like heat) to the ice, the molecules start to jiggle faster again and break free of the stronger bonds in the crystalline structure, and this is what melting is all about.

    Does that help?

  32. Linda Ploszaj says:

    Great experiment, the boys decided to save a few grapes to show their dad later. 🙂
    We tried doing it a few different ways. Stacking two did not work, the bottom one was supressed. Putting three in a circle, touching, produced a cool effect. And one of the times we got the plasma ball that soared up in the microwave.

    I am also interested in the answers to the questions ann ceraldi asked above, especially these two:

    2. What happens to the plasma when it cools? Does it revert back to the same gas–or is always the same gas, just a different form? Does the molecular structure change when the gas is ionized? What is the gas that is ionized? Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen–all three?
    3. Do the electrons recombine with water molecules now missing electrons when they cool?

    Thanks!!

  33. ann ceraldi says:

    A few questions:

    1. Why doesn’t the microwave ionize the air in the microwave when nothing is in it? (except air)? I would think the electrons of air in the “hot spot” would become hot enough to superheat surrounding air. Is it because they aren’t stationary long enough–ie air is circulating?
    2. What happens to the plasma when it cools? Does it revert back to the same gas–or is always the same gas, just a different form? Does the molecular structure change when the gas is ionized? What is the gas that is ionized? Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen–all three?
    3. Do the electrons recombine with water molecules now missing electrons when they cool?

  34. Sonya Fiebig says:

    This was so much fun! It was the first experiment we did and the second time was the best. Unfortunately we couldn’t see it very well because we have a light in our microwave.
    Laura Fiebig

  35. Laura Ocker says:

    we have a light in our microwave is that why we coudnt see it.

  36. Last year, I set up a science booth (which looked a lot like a hands-on science museum amidst all the textbook curriculum) at a homeschool convention and a parent comes running into my booth (literally) and blurts out: “Aurora! Your science stuff is either messy, wet, or on FIRE!” With a big grin, he added, “And I LOVE it!!” So, yes, occasionally things from our labs will catch on fire, but I’ll be sure to let you know which ones and how to handle those safely.

  37. Beth Beguerie says:

    I was expecting a bluish color(having read ahead), but it started burning and caught on fire in 6 seconds. We will have to try it again. We’ve been excitied to do this experiment since we signed up last week 😀

  38. Cynthia M Standley says:

    If you get a big grape it does not work you gust get a warm grape
    I think the poles are to fare a part

  39. No – stick to just grapes. Other things give off toxic fumes and I think your family really likes you enough to want to keep you around. 🙂

  40. Sudie Elder says:

    It was a really fun experiment :p can you use any other objects?

    Isaac Elder

  41. Paula Saladino says:

    Amazing how much a grape smells after 10 seconds in the microwave. Who knew? My kids thought the house might explode! Too funny!

  42. It does matter WHERE in the microwave you put the grape, not such much the color. Your microwave has ‘hot spots’ – areas where the energy is most concentrated. Try it again with another grape in a different location, and don’t forget that you can also move it vertically (place it on a cup of varying heights). Check out the comments of other families for more ideas!

  43. Margaret Austin says:

    Does it matter whether you use green or red grapes?
    Or, what about perfectly fresh grapes as opposed to an older, almost bad one?
    We tried this with an old red grape and it worked great. The next day, we bought fresh green grapes and they just bubbled, but did not flare. It was discouraging.
    Any ideas?

  44. Dominique Poli says:

    sooo cool!!!!!!!!!

  45. yes just send us an email, however note that when you sign up again, it will be at the current rate of the program.

  46. Raina McGrath says:

    can you cancel membership in summer and resume in the fall?

  47. I like your thinking! I didn’t have any luck with larger fruits, except to cook them further. You can try multiple grapes…

  48. Tricia Sickmeier says:

    this worked great only when there was a very small connecting flap. the grape just bubbled when the flap of skin was the whole length of the grape. The skin was singed with sometimes a flash, but didn’t separate. Still fun, tho. after reading the comments we’ll try different locations in the micro.
    Will this destroy my micro if we try an orange, (since there’s lots of juice)?

  49. Cathy Braden says:

    awesome huge flame!!!!

  50. Michelle Olding says:

    it is awesone

  51. Cool! If you have a pix or video, send it over so I can post it with your comment. 🙂

  52. Teresa Pipkins says:

    sooo cool! the first one i did turned into a ball of light that jumped out and was bouncing off the microwave walls for at least 3 seconds!

  53. Christine Durham says:

    Oh my goodness! I ordered your e-science program yesterday and I was so excited to get my daughter started. She was not. Typical kid, she said things like do I have to and I’ll do my math today instead. So I was looking over your site and ran across the plasma grape. I called her into the kitchen explained the first four states of matter to her(again). She was still ho hum. I asked her if she wanted to make plasma. That did it. Her interest was peaked. By the third or forth grape she was literally climbing the counter to become one with the microwave. We went through tons of grapes. She got her friends after they came home from school and showed all of them. They went home to their houses and showed their parents. When my husband came home I told him thanks for the science we made plasma today. he asked me if I had acheived warp drive yet. haha. I told him to come and see. He said somthing to the effect of can’t we not and say we did. I drug him in and showed him. He repeated the experiment many times. Told me to go and buy globe grapes, then he went to the neighbors house and showed the neighbor man. I would say we LOVE your program. Thankyou Christie

  54. A few of the experiments are written up in the Lesson Plan, but most are online. About half of the experiments have written instructions directly under the video player, but the rest are all on video, as some of these were too long or difficult to describe by written instructions only. Hope this helps!

  55. Shannon Duffy says:

    Aurora-Are you experiment directions written up anywhere in a format that can be printed and followed? My computer internet connection gets lost in certain places in my house. Thanks. Shannon

  56. Hi Tamara – you can read up on how it works by reading the information section and the comment section for this experiment. That’s where you’ll find lively discussions about what’s going on and other things to test out that other families suggest.

    You can definitely use these science activities with young children – we’ve had five year olds build the robots in Unit 10 with adult help, in fact! 🙂 Great activities you can do with younger kids include: Roller Coasters, Airplanes, the Bat Kite, and Slime.

    You can expect to see biology beginning to be released (there will be several units) in Winter 2011. We are just now completing work on advanced Chemistry (Unit 15) and Computer Technology (Unit 16), so it will be sometime after that. For the latest information, click on our syllabus.

  57. I looked at the Plasma Grape video and was wondering what causes plasma in this experiment. I’m sure it has something to do with microwaves but I am really curious as to how it works. Could you explain, please?

    I also love your science curriculum but my children are still very small – ages 5, 3, and 1. So I was wondering if there is a way to use it with preschoolers. Should we just do experiments without explaining they why’s and what’s of the science involved?

    I saw somewhere on your website you mentioning that you plan to introduce biology at some point. Do you know when?

  58. Have you tried it? Keep an eye on it in case it starts to burn…

  59. That’s the plasma you’re seeing – good eye!

  60. Ajmer Dhanda says:

    Why do you see a bluish yellowish section in the middle of the grape?

  61. Ajmer Dhanda says:

    That was great ! What would happen if I left it on longer than 12 seconds?

  62. Christina Severinghaus says:

    We did the plasma grape again, after heading to the store for a bunch of grapes.. fortunately grapes were on sale. This is becoming the ‘must show and tell’ as soon as someone comes to visit.

  63. Anonymous says:

    We did this yesterday with a group of 6 kids and the boys thought it was the coolest thing so they took a whole plateful of sliced grapes when I wasn’t really paying attention and as I heard the microwave on again I looked to see quite the show! I wasn’t sure if my microwave would still function after that. The flames joined together to make bigger flames so the microwave was quite lit up! The kids said it was awesome!

  64. Lana Wymore says:

    This morning we did the grape experiment. My 5 yr old thought it was AMAZING that it made sparks. 🙂 We’ll try the soap experiment this weekend I think. We are enjoying the experiments, although I’m hoping as the summer goes on I’m better about consistently doing one or more each day instead of every few days. Thanks again!

  65. It does matter WHERE in the microwave you stick the grape! 🙂 Have fun!

  66. Michele Floyd says:

    wow this is such a cool activity! not all of the times it worked because our microwave is old. thanks again.

    Liam floyd 11

  67. Diane Laverty says:

    I really appreciate the videos with this program. We do not have a microwave, so being able to watch the videos is almost essential to the children understanding what is happening in the experiments! Thanks very much!

  68. Hi Carolyn, Here’s an easy way to figure out which lesson an experiment belongs to – look in the upper right – do you see how it says “Density Video, Density Reading, Density Experiments…” etc? The plasma grape experiment is part of the Density Lesson, which is in Unit 3. When you hop around the site, this menu in the upper right changes. Because we’ve pulled a few of the experiments out and stuck them in the “getting started” area, it can be confusing as to which unit they really belong to, so this is a way to tell where you are. So to get more experiments like the plasma grape one, simply click “Density Experiments” and you’ll get all the ones in that lesson. When you click “Density Reading” you get the background info about it, and “Density Video” walks you through that this lesson is all about.

    If you haven’t already watched the video for new members (main page, upper right), you might find that a valuable use of your time, as it goes over how to navigate through the site. Does that help?

  69. Carolyn Pecharka says:

    ok, just trying to figure it out. We did the grape experiment, but I wanted to figure out what “unit” is is in. But cant seem to find that information.
    My kids of course are seeing some of the fun stuff they can do, built the catapult, and t-did the grape one, but again, when I look at lesson
    plan and try to see where it fits in, I cant put it anywhere. I am wanting to maybe lean toward the same lessons for the experiments
    so we can make sure we are learning something, but cant find the unit. Thanks for your help. is there a experiment list and then a corresponding
    unit/lesson it belongs too…
    thanks again, Carolyn Pecharka

  70. Carolyn pecharka says:

    this is soooooooo much fun we love this thank you so much can not what to try the other ones emma

  71. Carolyn pecharka says:

    ok, now they are going completly around the plate and grabbing anything eles they can from the fridge. I am a bit afraid! But We are using the old microwave, so I am not to worried….It was going to the next yard sale anyway.

  72. Carolyn pecharka says:

    OK WE had a slow start, then read the comments and kept trying.. Well we got flames! Now of course they are doing it with 3 and 4 grapes on the plate…Hope we do not catch the house on fire! They love it, thanks<

  73. Christina Severinghaus says:

    this was so sweet i think it might have blown up, but other than that not much damage to the grape other than some burns

    Lukas 8

  74. Do the experiment first, then read the comments here… and go over the quick reading for Unit 3 about plasma… and THEN see if you can puzzle it out… I promise to answer more soon after you’ve had a chance to roll around with it. 🙂

  75. Michele Floyd says:

    WOW this is such a cool project!
    I have not actually done this project yet but it is definitely on my calendar this month!
    2 questions why does the grape make such a bright light and how?

    Liam F. =D

  76. Heather Smith says:

    I love this! 5 stars

  77. Thanks for writing. And yes, you’re right that microwave waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which also includes visible light, x-rays, gamma rays, and radio waves. The trouble arises when kids hear the word “radio waves”, as most folks will immediately think of sound waves.

    To introduce kids to the idea of light (which is more difficult to understand than sound as the ideas are more abstract), we first make the distinction that radio waves are NOT sound waves (as it might appear because of the name), so this analogy of “light beams” sometimes helps. When we introduce light energy ideas to kids, we talk about how microwave energy, TV remotes, etc are all light waves, which travel and act differently than sound waves.

    The photon can be described as having four distinct characteristics: intensity, wavelength, time shift, and polarization. Feel free to add or augment any of the material we offer as you see fit – there’s more than one way to understanding the scientific principles!

  78. Anonymous says:

    We were dismayed to read your description of microwave works. Microwaves are short range, high power radio waves, not light beams. Do you have a particular reason for using this description? The experiments sound like fun, but we do not want to be learning things we will have to un-learn later.

  79. Deanna Betts says:

    We did this experience 4 times. The second time worked the best. It looked like a plasma globe in a microwave. We learned that if you don’t open it enough it won’t work. It shot a ring of flame to the top of the microwave (mom was worried 🙂 ) . It was really cool. Martin

  80. So glad you’re enjoying the experiment – this is one of the more flashy ones! And sadly, an apple doesn’t have enough juice to work… but don’t take my word for it – try it (and others) and let me know how it goes! Happy experimenting! ~Aurora

  81. Marcy Bloom says:

    To quote my boys, “AWESOME!” We tried it first of all with a seeded grape that had been thawed-didn’t work. Next we got seedless red grapes-it worked quite well. Now they want to know if you can have a plasma apple! ( I think they think-Bigger fruit=Bigger flash!) Are there any other fruits that would be safe to try? Thanks!

  82. You’re right – it’s the hot gas slightly ABOVE the grape that ionizes and POOFs! And no, temp and humidity don’t have a lot to do with this experiment, as it’s inside your microwave and the ionization temp is so high and the grape is so wet (mostly water) Good work! 🙂

  83. Amy Bowman says:

    We just tried it again only we put it close to the edge of the plate and we got a huge reaction!! The thing was, though, is that it sent off a few more sparks in the middle of the grape than usual, but the big reaction didn’t actually come from the grape. It looked more like it came from this grate in the top that won’t come off so it’s really hard to clean. This time it took about 15 seconds. 🙂

    P.S. It’s REALLY cold and dry where we live, so we were wondering if the humidity and/or temperature in our house could have effected the reaction in any way? Thanks!

    -A, age 12

  84. Amy Bowman says:

    When we tried this experiment at first it didn’t work. All it did was bubble and smoke. We tried a different grape and used a paper towel to blot off the excess juice and it sent of a few sparks but it didn’t work as well as it did in the video. We have a really nice, high power microwave. We used large green grapes, if that makes a difference. We also noticed that when we didn’t blot it with a towel that the juice boiled over across from side to side and we were wondering if maybe that changed the reaction because the energy could cross more easily. We also tried it at 50% power and it didn’t work at all. (We still blotted it with a towel.) We also found that 12 seconds was not nearly long enough and that it took 20-30 seconds before it made sparks. Thanks for the help! 🙂

    -A, age 12

  85. Shannon Dallas says:

    We loved the experiment! It’s one of the first ones we’ve done and it was really cool! Is this the same kind of plasma that powers plasma tv’s?

  86. Fusion is when you smoosh the atom cores together, and fission is when you break the cores apart. In our experiment, we’re stripping off the electrons that zoom *around* the core of the atom. A plasma is basically a gas that is so hot (aka has so much energy) that the electrons shake loose and zip around on their own. And you’re right – you need MUCH more energy than a microwave can give you to produce nuclear fusion… something on the order of the SUN ought to do it.

    (On planet Earth, you need a bolt of lightening to get million-degree temperatures.)

  87. There are a few others, but grapes have the biggest ooh-ahh factor. Have fun! 🙂

  88. Debra Thomson says:

    I love to do this experiment! Who would of guessed that grapes can make plasma! Are there any other foods that can make plasma?
    Holly Thomson age 11

  89. Debra Thomson says:

    I’ve been learning about nuclear fission and nuclear fusion lately. In my curriculum, it said that million-degree temperatures must be reached for nuclear fusion to occur. And, once you reach those temperatures, the atoms lose their electrons and exist as ions and free electrons. And that is when plasma is created. So, when we did the plasma grape, did we make million-degree temps? If so, Wow. That is amazing.
    Thank you so much!
    -Stephanie T.

  90. If it’s bubbling, it means that it’s not in the right location in your microwave. Just open the door, move it an inch or two away, and try again, Make sure you haven’t torn the thin bridge-skin, though, or it won’t work at all.

  91. Debra Thomson says:

    When I did it at night, it worked fine and we could see it well. We had all of the lights off, except the automatic in-microwave light. When we tried it again the next afternoon, ours was just bubbling, too. I think that it must have “made” the plasma already, but we could not see it because it was too light. Maybe you should try it at night… hope this helped a little.

    Debra Thomson

  92. Michelle Bible says:

    We have been trying this all afternoon and can’t get it to work. All it’s doing is bubbling. It’s a new microwave. Should we turn down the power of it? Would love to hear what we are doing wrong. Thank you, Michelle

  93. I don’t recommend eating the project your doing, as a general rule for science experiments…

  94. Debra Thomson says:

    I never knew what Plasma was and this explaines it really well!!! Dose it hurt you if you eat it after it has burned?
    -Holly Thomson age11

  95. Yes – but be careful… you can singe your microwave if you’re not watching. 🙂

  96. Debra Thomson says:

    Wow. This is awesome! I have never “made” plasma before! :p

  97. Right – there’s no damage to the microwave with this one as long as you keep an eye on it (and stop it before it turns into a mighty fireball), and it’s best done with the lights off.

    As for your other question, remember that plasma is HOT HOT gas, and in this case, HOT HOT air (with a bit of water vapor). Here’s how you superheat the gas using a grape: Grapes are made mostly with juice that conducts electricity (we’ll cover electrolytes in a later lesson, but think of how salt water conducts electricity for now). The grape halves are like little cups full of this conductive juice connected by a tiny bridge (the part that you didn’t cut all the way through). When you hit the ON button on the microwave, the energy being shot at your grape moves the electrolytes across the bridge very quickly, which heats up the bridge until it bursts into flame… and when this happens, the electrons that are traveling through the flame arc across and ionize the air around the grape and a burst of bright plasma shoots up. If you watch carefully, you will see two flames shoot up, not one. Happy Experimenting!

  98. sevy keble says:

    sorry I didn’t say this in my last comment, but why does the grape emit plasma and make flashes?
    sevy keble
    🙂

  99. sevy keble says:

    This is such an awesome expirement! My mom was scared it would ruin her microwave. 🙂

    sevy keble