Frostbite Theater

Announcer: Frostbite Theater presents... Cold Cuts! No baloney!

Joanna and Steve: Just science!

Joanna: Hi! I'm Joanna!

Steve: And I'm Steve!

Joanna: And this is a test tube of liquid nitrogen!

Steve: And this is a test tube of liquid oxygen!

Joanna: Let's see what happens when nitrogen and oxygen are exposed to fire.

Steve: Fire?!

Joanna: Yeah!

Steve: Really?!

Joanna: Why not!

Steve: Okay!

Joanna: As nitrogen boils, it changes into nitrogen gas. Because it's so cold, it's denser than the air in the room. The test tube fills up with nitrogen gas and spills over the top.

Fire needs three things to burn. It needs fuel, heat and oxygen. Because there's no oxygen in our test tube, the fire goes out. No oxygen, no fire!

Steve: When liquid oxygen boils, it makes oxygen gas. And, just like in Joanna's test tube, the oxygen gas is denser than the air in the room because it's colder. So the test tube fills up with oxygen gas until it spills out of the top. Unlike Joanna's test tube, this thing is filled with nothing but oxygen. So... If I stick a lit match in there...

Are you sure this is a good idea???

Joanna: Absolutely!

Steve: (Nervous laughter)

The fire burns a whole lot better!

Joanna: Thanks for watching! I hope you'll join us again soon for another experiment!

Steve: Oh, we so have to do that again!

Joanna: Absolutely!

Steve: You light it and you give me the fire extinguisher.

Joanna: Okay.

Steve: That way I'm safe...