The Properties of a Marshmallow, and so much S'more!

For my household object, I chose the most commonly seen food in my kitchen, also known as my current obsession: the fantastically fluffy jumbo marshmallow. Because the name "jumbo marshmallow" is quite long, I am going to refer to my marshmallow as Bo.

Physical Properties

Color: After observing Bo in the palm of my hand for a few seconds, I came to the simplistic conclusion that he was an opaque white, as proven by my picture. This is a physical property because I can observe this without changing Bo's chemical I.D.; All I had to do was look at him with my eyes.

Malleability: With Bo's consent, of course, I used my trusty tenderizer to pound him (lovingly) into thin sheets. I discovered that with a hefty amount of smashing, he could be hammered into a somewhat thin sheet. Bo's stickiness and fluffiness made it tricky to flatten him, which is why required so much effort. Malleability is a physical property because flattening Bo doesn't change the fact that Bo is a marshmallow - it simply changes his shape.

Taste: Because I had about twenty Bos available for use, I thought that it would be morally okay for me to take a bite out of one. It tasted like vanilla, which is one of the main ingredients in a marshmallow. His vanilla flavor is a physical property because I didn't change Bo's chemical I.D. by placing him on my tongue.

Smell: Although this made things a bit awkward between us, I smelled Bo and figured out that he smells just like he tastes: like vanilla! Smell is a physical property because, as said many times before, I didn't change Bo's chemical I.D. in order to hold him up to my nose.

Length: I laid Bo on his side and measured him with a measuring tape. His length was 11 cm. Length is a physical property because it can be observed without even touching Bo, much less changing his chemical I.D.

Chemical Properties

Poor Bo... as if he hadn't taken enough abuse already, now came the time to test his chemical properties, which was much more strenuous than testing his physical properties.

Flammability: To begin, I stuck Bo onto the end of a metal poker. I suspended him over the sink and held a lighter up to his side which, after a few seconds, drowned him in flames. Once the flame had completely covered Bo, it sizzled out on its own, leaving behind a blackened marshmallow. Obviously, catching on fire proved that he was flammable. This is a chemical property because the heat of the flame charred and crumbled Bo, changing his chemical I.D. and making it virtually impossible to return him back to his original state.

Reactivity with Acid: After placing Bo in a glass cup, I poured white vinegar in the cup as well. The clear acid was immediately clouded when they made contact, leading me to believe that Bo’s outer layer disintegrated due to the corrosiveness of the acid. However, no other reaction occurred with Bo after this, which meant that Bo didn't react with acid. This is a chemical property because it deals with Bo's ability to react with acid and potentially be disintegrated or otherwise changed.

Reactivity with Alcohol: Using another clean glass cup, I put Bo inside the cup and poured isopropyl alcohol on top of him. To my demise, there was no reaction, proving that Bo didn't react with alcohol as well. On the positive side, the alcohol definitely cleared my sinuses! As with the acid, this is a chemical property because it states Bo's ability to chemically transform with the alcohol.

Reactivity with Canola Oil: For my final Bo-in-a-glass-cup test, I drowned Bo in canola oil. Nothing happened chemically, but the oil did coat Bo with a fantastic sheen. He looked like a true Guidow (poor Jersey Shore joke). In other words, Bo didn't react with canola oil. This is going to be very repetitive, but this is a chemical property because it states whether Bo could potentially be chemically altered by canola oil.

Corrosiveness: This sweet marshmallow wouldn't hurt a fly. I positioned Bo on top of a generic napkin, and he did nothing to it. Bo is definitely not corrosive. Corrosiveness is a chemical property because corrosion is the disintegration of a material (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrosion) due to chemical (key word!) reactions with its surroundings.

Here is a lineup of Bo's many forms:

And finally, for a bit of added fun, I melted the leftover marshmallows and created my own marshmallow bubble mix.