Collapsing Cup By Riley Gaskill and Laura Latham

Summary of Collapsing Cup

In this experiment, we will be demonstrating how a styrafoam a cup and a coke can react when combined with acetone, otherwise known as nail polish remover. While watching this demonstration you should not expect a large explosion, you should expect a cup being deformed by an acid that is a liquid. This is a very fun experiment for kids on a rainy day because it is short, you can have fun with it, and it's not a messy experiment!

Relevant Chemistry Concepts

In this demonstration to help you fully understand the topic more you should know these Chemistry Concepts. The Chemistry Concepts in this experiment is chemical changes, exothermic reactions, and acids. First off, what is a chemical change, and how is it used in this experiment? A chemical change is a change that causes something to change chemically, it is used in this project because when the styrafoam cup is with the acetone, the acetone is chemically change the form/state of the cup. Next, exothermic reactions are reactions that release heat, so the outside of it will he heated up or hot, this is used because when the acetone is with the cup it will set off heat when the chemical is destroying the cup. Finally, acids are a chemical substance that tastes bitter. That is the chemistry concepts of this demonstration and how they are used for this.


- plastic tin pan or a plastic container

- Acetone(or you can use fingernail polish)

- 1 Styrofoam cups(empty)

- 1 coke can(empty)


1. Gather all your materials

2. Put your 1 cup of acetone in the tin pan

3. Place your styrafoam cup in the acetone and press down

4. (Optional) Repeat if you want to do this experiment with a coke can

End results

After this experiment, the Styrofoam cup leaves behind a liquid-ish substance that feels like glue or ooblec.

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