Going out with your parents, watching a movie and having a snack like popcorn.🍿 Ah! What a day. But while eating that popcorn, have you ever thought about what makes popcorn pop?🤷♂
Well, in the ancient times people believed a spirit👻 lived inside each seed or the kernel of popcorn. When heated, the spirit grew angry,😡 burst out of its home, and fled into the air as an unhappy puff of steam!!! 💨
It would have been a great adventure🤓 looking out for that spirit but sadly that is not the case. A less charming but more scientific explanation exists for why popcorn pops.😎
There is something in popcorn kernels (seeds) called starch, and this starch contains moisture. When the popcorn kernels are heated,🔥 the moisture in starch becomes steam.
The steam builds up pressure inside the hard outer part of the kernel. Eventually, this pressure builds so much that it causes the inner part to explode💣 and the starch puffs up.
This mini-explosion🧨 makes the popping sound and this is also the reason why you need to keep a lid on the popcorn pan otherwise it would be all over the kitchen and could even hit you. Ouch!!!
Fun fact
👉 Popcorn kernels can pop up to almost a meter in the air!
You can also refer to the video:
The King of Pop – Popcorn
