Rock salt, steel shot and calcium chloride: Reactions makes ice cream
The American Chemical Society channel's one new video asks which salt freezes dessert fastest, while a summer aspirin experiment keeps pulling in viewers.
ReactionsStory of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
ice cream and latent heat of fusion
"ice cream and latent heat of fusion" asks a question many people last met in a school kitchen: which salt makes homemade ice cream freeze fastest? On Reactions, the American Chemical Society's chemistry channel, the answer runs through table salt, calcium chloride and, for good measure, a bag of steel shot, which chills but never melts, so it cannot soak up heat the way ice does.
The comments are half chemistry seminar, half memory lane. Several viewers remember coffee-can ice cream and rock salt from the 1990s, recalling a teacher who insisted on it without ever saying why. Others add safety notes about calcium chloride, which gives off heat when it meets water. And plenty admit they spent half the video thinking the salt was going straight into the dessert.
It was the only upload, and it started briskly. Yet the video doing the most work is seven weeks older: "making aspirin from lifesavers", now past 1.6 million views and still matching the ice cream video's daily pace. Its description promises a willow bark version, the slow, months-long route that the candy shortcut sidestepped.
The channel's daily views ran well above their usual level, and among the science and experiment channels nearest its size, Reactions added the most views this week, ahead of EEVblog and Simon Clark. Not bad for a team whose about text proudly quotes a viewer calling it "pretty much correct, occasionally entertaining."
Published on Trari
Read next
What viewers say
For half of the video, I thought you were mixing the salts directly with ice cream and was waiting for the "it's more efficient but also not edible."
@No.17TypeSSee it on YouTubeLatent Heat of Fusion is one of my favorite jazz rock bands! I didn't know they collaborated with ice cream
@dj_laundry_listSee it on YouTubeYes! When my weird rural elementary school's Advanced Placement home ec program made coffee can ice cream in the mid-1990s, the teacher emphasized the importance of using "rock salt" instead of table salt, but they didn't fully explain why.
@roecocoaSee it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
Is this your channel?
Share the story with your audience: in a community post, in your channel's description or on your socials. The text and the badge are ready.
You may use the picture, the badge, and link it to this story.
The videos drawing views on Reactions right now
- Channel
- Reactions
- Subscribers
- 876,000 ▲ 4,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,028,618
- Videos published this week
- 1
- Video published
- September 30, 2026
- Video views so far
- 92,835
- Views on its first day
- 34,699
The numbers
Here is how Reactions' week looks in figures.
💡 Test your knowledge
What happens to water's freezing point when salt is dissolved in it?
Dissolved particles get in the way of ice forming, so salty water has to get colder before it freezes.
