Cotton candy machine...

[Externet]

Hi.

I have some idea of how they work, but never inspected one closely nor played with one.

Question; what do you think would happen if bits and pieces of plastic are fed to it instead of sugar?

Would it produce some "plastic wool" ? -Similar to fiberglass ?-

 

(am not joking)

 

Miguel

[Nevermore]

I doubt it, since the chemical proproties of plastic are different than that of sugar. Buy, hey, only one way to find out.

[chilehed]

..Would it produce some "plastic wool" ?...

If you used the right kind of plastic I'm sure it would.

 

But it certainly WOULD produce one seriously annoyed cotton-candy salesman!

[H2SO4]

make a small crappy cotton candy machine and try it!

[olmpiad]

You would probably need a very brittle plastic

[Phi for All]

Question; what do you think would happen if bits and pieces of plastic are fed to it instead of sugar?

Would it produce some "plastic wool" ?

It might be easier to shear a plastic sheep.

 

As chilehed said, the right kind of plastic might work this way, but remember you're heating it up and spinning it through a bunch of tiny holes. I'll bet it would stink and since the plastic isn't water soluble like the sugar, cleaning the machine afterwards would be a real chore. You might only get one shot at it.

 

On the other hand, since the average serving of cotton candy uses less sugar than you'd find in a can of soda (about a teaspoon), you might not need much plastic to do it your way.