I hypothesize that the more sugar you add the better the outcome will be, from what I have seen the sugar is a key component to the experiment and the more sugar you add the less carbon dioxide escapes from the mix. The different types of sugar probably contributes the the size and outcome of the experiment too, I believe that about 4 tablespoons of white sugar should be about right but we will have to do the experiment to find out the best results.

Thermal refers to heat. Decomposing is what it means to break down. When a substance is heated to a certain point, a chemical process known as thermal breakdown takes place.

AB= A+B is a simple equation that illustrates thermal breakdown. To better clarify this equation, consider that heat causes AB to break and transform into A+B. 

Another simple example of thermal decomposition that occurs in daily life is when baking soda breaks down and releases carbon dioxide when the cake mix reaches a temperature of around 50 °C. Atoms or molecules in motion generate heat energy. Heat is created in proportion to the molecular velocity 
 

That’s how our experiment works! It starts when the baking soda mixes with the fire it turns into carbon dioxide, then when the sugar and fire mix together they form air pockets that make the carbon dioxide get stuck into, because of the pressure of the carbon dioxide the air pockets get so much pressure that they get longer and longer, it also creates water vapour, a shape of a snake and gets a black colour. But you might ask why does it turn black? The carbon present inside it undergoes

The variable in our experiment is the amount and type of sugar. The sugar in this experiment is used to make the snake grow how? Well when the sugar and fire mix, they make air pockets that and when the baking soda and fire mix they turn into  carbon dioxide, because of the air pockets made from the sugar and fire, the carbon dioxide has so much pressure but no space that the air pockets then grow. So based on this info I predict that the more sugar you add the better the outcome will be.

Materials

• Wide baking tray 
• liquid fluid 250 ml
• Sand 4cups
• sugar variable
• baking soda 1tbs
• bbq lighter 
• bowl and spoon 1each

First you need to mix the baking soda and sugar together in a bowl, baking soda fuels the carbon dioxide making the snake rise up, and sugar, which allows air-pockets to form, make sure to mix it thoroughly. Next put some sand in a tray, the reason we use sand is because sand takes awhile to absorb the heat and doesn’t burn easily (if you don’t use any type of sand your tray can burn) after adding sand you need to put the mixture of the sugar and baking soda onto the sand, then put lighter fluid on the mixture in the tray. Last but no least use your BBQ lighter to put it on fire, stand back and watch the experiment unfold.

Finally for my second attempt the snake grew to its full length! It was so cool to see this. The couple factors I changed were, first i made a little peak on the sand and only placed my ingredients on the peak, secondly I didn't do the experiment outside in the cold and windy weather, which allowed the fire to last longer. As you can see the result was incredible and my second attempt was a success!

I analyzed that the snake had air pockets on the outside and that it kept on growing because of the carbon dioxide's pressure and also because of the more sugar there were so many air pockets that made less carbon dioxide go out and made the snake grow even more, I also saw that I should have put some more lighter fluid on so it could grow more.

When the baking soda and sugar combust, they are chemically changed into the water vapour, sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide. The pressure created by the carbon dioxide pushes the sodium carbonate out, which creates the black carbon snake. when we talk about chemical reactions, we think it must be very complicated! However, with this experiment we learned how chemical and physical changes occur in a very simple way right in front of our eyes!

A way you can use combustion(burning matter) in normal life is when you are baking cake, the sugar and heat turn to air pockets and the baking soda and heat turn into carbon dioxide, then because of the pressure of the carbon dioxide is so much that then the air pockets/outside of cake get bigger and bigger which forms combustion.

The first time I tried to make the black carbon snake it came out to be a fail but then I found out that I needed to put the lighter fluid in the middle and not on the sides. I also found out that I needed to put the lighter fluid on the sand before I put my mixture of sugar and baking soda. When I did the experiment because of my errors I noticed that the sugar and baking soda were burning up very slow, however it didn’t have enough lighter fluid to create enough heat to push up the snake from the tray.

https://youtu.be/QPsJeL7cqtY?si=WKiWOs737RE7-NNm

https://youtu.be/NERwRanxWXQ?si=iURXybOysFzdmns

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/41/6e/e6/416ee6e43294f8a74f248567229b81ff.jpg

Carbon Sugar Snake | DIY for Beginners | KiwiCo

These are the important people who helped me with my

science fair project : 

 Farhan (uncle)

  Nadia (aunt)

 Sumaira (mom)

 Abeeha (cousin)

It was so much fun, I would work with them again.