Fermilab’s Mr. Freeze entertained audience members on Wed. Oct. 1, in a liquid nitrogen cryogenics show held in the South Campus PAC. The show, hosted by LT’s Girls in Engineering, Mathematics and Science (GEMS), had an audience ranging from wide-eyed elementary school students to elderly community members, all united in the common goal of learning more about science.

​Mr. Freeze, formally known as Jerry Zimmerman, graduated from Northern Illinois University with a major in physics. After a decade in the Colorado aerospace industry, Zimmerman dedicated his career to detector research and machine design at Fermilab, a world-leading high energy physics facility in the Chicago area. According to an announcement by GEMS, Zimmerman has been doing volunteer cryogenic shows for 22 years. By visiting approximately 5,000 students per year, Zimmerman’s mission is to encourage a love of science in students. The demonstration began with the basics of cryogenics, the study of extreme cold.

​“[The liquid nitrogen] is so cold it gives frostbite to a polar bear,” Zimmerman said on the subject. “It’s so cold it turns Smurfs blue and makes ice scream.”

​Taking audience questions, Zimmerman shared several fun facts about nitrogen. Transported in vacuum-lined containers and handled with care, precision and occasionally duct tape, liquid nitrogen is similar to dry ice, except it has a more expansive liquid phase.

Fermilab purchases the substance for approximately 22 cents per gallon and uses around 21 thousand gallons each day, Zimmerman said. Liquid nitrogen can be used for a multitude of purposes including the freezing of McDonald’s hamburgers, rocket propulsion, cryoburns and powering large vehicles.

​The night’s experiments ranged from freezing balls and flowers, exploding and contracting plastic bottles to creating thunder with the aid of tennis balls and carpet. Viewers observed the expansion rate of liquid nitrogen as well as the creation of a superconductor, which involved pouring the liquid over a magnet and allowing a metal car to race around it like a track, even as the unit was held upside down. The show culminated in three separate explosions: a rocket-styled bottle, a two-liter inside a cardboard box, and soap launched across the stage.

​“The show was awesome,” said Karen, a St. Mary’s second grader who took part in the final demonstration, in which liquid nitrogen was mixed with soapy water, creating a bubbly explosion.

​GEMS was founded with the intention of encouraging young girls to pursue science. The club was thrilled with the night’s turnout and couldn’t be more encouraged by their positive feedback, GEMS member Alison Slezak ’16 said.

​“Personally, I thought it was really neat,” Slezak said. “[Demonstration] makes science so much more accessible. Now I’m even more interested in pursuing a career in science.”