We were at a beach with some friends and one of the Dads showed Kaleb a cool trick.  Kaleb was amazed when he shot the cap of a water bottle about 20 feet in the air by simply twisting the bottle.  Nothing special is needed, just an empty water bottle and some muscles.  Kaleb thought this little water bottle popper was the coolest thing.  Now he is constantly on the hunt for recyclable water bottles.

It is tough to get the bottles to start twisting.  Younger fingers will have a really hard time, so it might be best to just let them watch.  Please be cautious when trying this.  The cap will shoot off like a rocket, so make sure it is pointed in a safe direction!

Keep twisting the bottle until it won’t twist any further.  The twisting builds pressure in the bottle, so the tighter you twist it; the higher your cap will shoot.  We never had any of our bottles pop while twisting, but it is possible for this to happen.  Please be careful.

Check out how clear the bottle is at this point.  Once the bottle can no longer be twisted any further, slowly open the cap.  It will eventually reach a certain point when the cap just shoots off.

Notice the vapors coming out just after the cap shoots off, and how cloudy it is inside the bottle.  I don’t know the exact science behind it, but it is because of the pressure that is built up inside the bottle.  I would love to hear the explanation for why this happens.

Some of our caps shot about 20 feet in the air so be prepared.  We found some brands of bottles work better, so you might have a bit of trial and error.  Be safe, and have fun!

Here is a link to a fun list of great experiments that my kids love.

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Tammy