Why do corn seeds explode into popcorn?

Popcorn is a familiar and indispensable food in movie theaters. Sometimes, it becomes a favorite snack for young people. How does that from the beautiful small corn, biting, bold turn into a bag of big popcorn, flour, eat cool and crispy like that?

Popcorn is a great food! It originates from a grain of corn with a diameter of only a few millimeters, and then explodes into a grain that is 40-50 times bigger, smoother, tastier, and has white powder. So magical. We will explore the structure of corn kernels and the effects of heating corn kernels in order to better understand this phenomenon.

Corn kernels are composed of three parts: shell, pulp and kernel.

Corn kernels are composed of three parts: shell, pulp and kernel. The outer corn grain is often very hard and tight. The pulp is mainly composed of carbohydrates in the form of starch, a small amount of protein, fat, minerals and water. Corn kernels are the innermost part and they do not play an important role in the popcorn explosion.

According to Science IQ, when you heat a corn grain, the water inside (about 13 to 14%) will start to expand. When the temperature reaches 100 degrees C (212 degrees F), the water in the corn grain will try to evaporate but the corn husk is too hard so the water cannot evaporate. Instead, the pressure begins to be created inside the corn grain like inside a pressure cooker. The corn husk was too strong and airtight, so it kept holding the boiling water particles inside the corn grain. Scientists also found a number of corn grains with a lifespan of 4,000 years but can still explode, which means that the shells of these corn grains still try to keep water inside it for so many years.

Avocado is an indispensable dish when going to the cinema.

As the temperature continues to rise, pressure also increases. At temperatures of about 175 degrees C (347 degrees F), the pressure becomes very large, and the corn grain explodes. If the corn seed shell has any of the smallest holes, the pressure inside the corn grain cannot be so compressed and the corn grain will not explode, nor will it bounce.The composition of water in corn kernels also plays an important role. If corn kernels are dried (exposed to sunshine or heated for long periods of time), corn kernels will not explode. When the water in the corn grain hatched, the steam pushed the corn stalks apart and out of the corn husk. The starchy part of the corn grain will bloom like a bubble, it dries very quickly and cools into a three-dimensional network. They are the soft, smooth and sweet white soft parts that we love to eat.