Fun with Silica Gel!

The great Silica Gel Experiment of 2007 is approaching. Today, while carrying out the mundane task of inventorying new computer products, I found a package of Silica gel. Noticing that the package says "DO NOT EAT. THROW AWAY" on it, I promptly dared my coworker, Chad, to eat one. Haven't you ever noticed that when something says DON'T you have an uncontrollable urge to DO? I was reminded of this about a week ago when I opened up a new hard drive that had a tiny hole on the top of it. Beside the hole was a sticker that said, "Do not cover hole." Naturally I covered the hole with my finger. I half expected a spike to shoot out of the hole and penetrate my finger. Nothing happened, though. I'm still alive, and so is the hard drive.

Back to my story, though. I offered Chad one dollar to eat one Silica gel capsule. "A shiny new loonie with your name on it," I said. He was tempted, but being the safety conscious guy he is (Chad will lecture a police officer on not being safe), Chad decided to look up the qualities of Silica gel on Wikipedia. While learning all about Silica gel, we learned that if the capsule turns pink after it gets wet, then it is toxic. To test this theory, we poured some Silica beads into a little indent in a piece of styrofoam and added some water. The Silica beads didn't turn pink. But they DID start popping like popcorn. After a minute or so of popping, the Silica gel settled down again.

Seeing what fun that was, Chad and I poured a much larger amount of beads onto the styrofoam and then poured water onto it. If a few beads were fun, more beads would be hysterical! This time, the beads got a little out of hand and started popping all over our office. We shielded them as best we could with our hands while trying to stifle our laughter. You'd be amazed at the things that amuse you when you have an office job. Anyways, this little experiment gave us a great idea: for the rest of the summer, we will stockpile all of the silica gel we get from packages. At the end of the summer we'll take the beads outside and throw them into a bucket of water. Can you imagine the fun this will be? Oh joy!

For the rest of the day I kept slipping on Silica beads that had popped all over our office. It's actually kind of cool when you roll over them because they shoot straight into the air and hit the ceiling. It's kind of embarrassing when this happens when the boss comes in, though. How do you explain Silica beads shooting through the air in your office? Anyways, give it a try. Add some water to your Silica beads. The fun is never ending. I dare you to eat one!