Bend or Break? Candy Science

What happens when you bend your favorite candy in half? Does it break? Does it bend? Does it snap back into shape? In this week's materials science-themed family science activity, students put candy to a "bend it" test to explore how some materials are more flexible than others. While it may be obvious that some candy bars will break (or snap in half) when bent while other more "gummy" candies bend, changing the temperature of the candies gives this experiment an extra twist. Does changing the temperature change how a candy behaves when it is bent? This is the kind of question a materials scientist might ask in developing a new product. With this fun science activity, families can make their own hypotheses about what will happen—and then put some candies to a bend-or-break test!

• Candy Snap (Science Buddies project idea)
• Candy Snap Materials Science (science activity at Scientific American)