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| Question: If you have acid in your stomach, why don't you melt? Answer: Your stomach does have acid inside of it - hydrochloric acid - strong enough to eat through a piece of the metal zinc. The reason your stomach isn't destroyed by the acid is our old friend snot, which is also called mucus. Mucus is thick, sticky, slimy and gooey. And it's a good thing. The inside of your stomach is covered with it. That layer of snot protects the stomach from its own acid. In fact, the miracle of mucus protects many parts of our bodies - some parts that even I will not mention in the funnies. You Can make fake snot and get a reputation for being the really strange kid everyone knows. Your fake snot will have many of the same ingredients as the real thing. Whip Up Some Fake Snot ! WHAT YOU NEED: Light corn syrup - unflavored gelatin - measuring cup - water - microwave oven or stove - permission from your family to cook in the kitchen, or family help WHAT TO DO: Heat 1/2 cup water just until it boils. Remove the heat. Sprinkle in 3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin. Let it soften a few minutes and stir with a fork. Add enough corn syrup to make 1 cup of thick glop. Stir with the fork and lift out the long strands of gunk. As it cools, you'll need to add more water, spoonful by spoonful. SO WHAT: Mucus is made mostly out of sugars and protein. That's what you used to make your fake snot, only you used different proteins and different sugars. Did you see those long, fine strings inside your fake snot when you lifted out the fork? Those strands are proteins. They're why real snot can be stretched out real long. The protein helps make it sticky, too. (The protein in your fake snot is gelatin. ) Real mucus sticks to the inside of your stomach. Without it, you'd digest yourself. Real mucus has lots of other jobs, which You Can learn in Experiment #2. Build Some Boogers ! WHAT YOU NEED: The fake snot you just happen to have made. WHAT TO DO: Ask someone who knows to show you the right way to change the vacuum cleaner bag. (You Can sell everyone on the idea of doing this experiment because you'll now be able to help out around the house.) Go outside with the dirt bag and your fake snot. Blow a bit of the dust from the vacuum cleaner. It's very fine and is a bad thing to breathe into our bodies. Dump a pinch of the finest dust onto your fake snot. Now stir it up. Look closely into the goo from the side. You just made fake boogers! SO WHAT: The fine dust got trapped and suspended in the thick fake snot. That's the idea of having mucus in your nose. We use it to trap all the dust, pollen and junk that's floating in the air. Sometimes when you blow your nose, out comes gross black stuff. It's usually mucus with trapped dust. It's healthier to keep that kind of dirt outside of our bodies. And with the miracle of snot on guard, most of the schmutz is trapped and then blown out in boogers! All mammals make mucus. Cats do something special with theirs. P.S. from Jax: It's probably a good idea to save this recipe. You Can never have too much thick, gooey, sticky, slimy stuff on hand, or at least the directions for making it. This is an especially wonderful treat for Halloween! (Or is it a trick for Halloween?) |
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