"Hey, Look at Me, I'm Doctor Science!!

Okay, that's a lie...I'm not really Dr. Science.In fact, until I just now checked, I didn't realize there WAS a Dr. Science...I was just using a jackass moniker for a blog post. So, I guess I'm NOT Dr. Science...Could I be Admiral Science, maybe?  No? Nurse Science?  No? The Earl of Science?

  I got it!! I will be(imaginary drumroll)...Flip Science, Esquire! THAT will be my science alias- Flip Science, Esquire. Kick-ass.

  Now, what were we going to talk about ?Oh, yes, my recent experiments in scientific science.

  Here's how it started...I brewed myself a cup of tea(some Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Gardens Green Tea-it's delish) in my office, for my mid afternoon pick me up.Now, I also recently purchased some Lipton Green Tea Iced Tea Mix TO GO, which are these little packets of Iced Tea dust that you can make in a water bottle.It's a Mandarin Mango flavor, and it's pretty alright. 

On the previous day, I had made a bottle of it with some cold water, and it didn't really dissolve all the crystals the way my borderline OCD brain would like. So, I was drinking my hot tea, and I glanced at the electric kettle that I use to heat up the water for my hot tea, and then I looked at the box of iced tea packets, and I suddenly felt the way that I imagine Benjamin Franklin felt when he invented the kite, or FDR felt when he cured polio...INSTANT brainstorm!! I will use the HOT water from the kettle to make the instant iced tea!! I can put it in the freezer after it mixes, and it will be the best of all possible worlds!! Call Barnes & Noble, because I think Flip Science, Esquire just won your prize for Science!!

   I know what you're thinking, and you are right...It worked brilliantly...The first time. Sure, the bottle got kinda hot, and it wasn't cool enough for me to drink on the way home from work, but when I came into work the next day, I had some ice cold Mandarin & Mango iced tea waiting for me(in the interest of full disclosure, I did actually drink the tea on the way home from work that next day, I didn't want to mislead anyone into thinking I drank it at work...I did not.Flip Science, Esquire, is a man of integrity.Not that there is anything wrong with drinking iced tea at work, there certainly isn't, I just did not want you to erroneously think that I had, in fact, imbibed the tea at work.).

  (One other thing I feel the need to share: If you look at the picture of the Iced Tea To Go box, you will notice that the powder is being pured into the bottle from a bit of a distance, I feel it is my duty to inform you that this is NOT how I pour the dust into the bottle. I will admit that I go the safer route of placing the dust envelope just inside the lip of the bottle and then pour it in.I simply cannot bring myself to be so daring and cavalier with the dust...I will understand if you think less of me.) 

Now back to our tales of science.:

  I was so emboldened by my scientific triumph, that I decided to recreate the magic. I did change one thing(or variable, as we in the scientific community call things), I made the tea earlier this time, so that the bottle would have more time to cool in the tiny freezer inside the tiny refrigerator inside my office.Again, I made myself a cup of hot tea, and then I waited what I thought might be a long enough time(here's a hint, it wasn't) and I placed my funnel into the opening of the bottle. I then raised the kettle and poured the water into the bottle via the funnel.

  My first clue that there was going to be a different result was the crackling sound I heard. You see, on my previous scientific triumph, there had been no crackling sound.Now, a less brave scientist might have paused the experiment to see what the crackling sound was...NOT Flip Science,Esquire. NosirreeBob. I kept on pouring that water, and I suddenly noticed that the wrapper on the bottle seemed to be expanding, separating itself from the plastic bottle.FASCINATING. Then, I realized that the crackling and the seeming expanding of the wrapper were connected, and that the wrapper was not, in fact, expanding, but the plastic bottle was contracting!!!

  My next thought was to wonder if the bottle would melt and spew half mixed iced tea all over the desk...But did I stop? I did not! Science needed Flip Science, Esquire, and Flip Science, Esquire was going to stand tall for science!! I kept pouring that apparently still boiling water until the bottle was full.Then I grabbed a paper towel to protect my hand( I was holding the bottle steady), and I put the cap back on the bottle. I shook the bottle to fully dissolve the iced tea dust,and I placed the bottle into the tiny freezer in the tiny refrigerator in my office.Part of me wondered if the cold would cause the bottle to burst or something, but that was not the case. I took it out of the freezer a couple of hours later, and it was nice and cold and tasty. I drank it on my way home from work that very day.

  I then retired that particular water bottle. Here are some pictures of it, including one of it next to a non shrunken bottle:

  And there you have it, a startling Tale of Science from Flip Science, Esquire. Your homework ? In the comments, let ole Flip Science, Esquire know what you learned from our experiment.