Physics students and professors were outside of McFarland on Friday making ice cream in a rather unusual way.
In honor of national physics day, students and professors were mixing cream, sugar, and milk with three different flavors. However, instead of using a traditional ice cream maker, they just poured liquid nitrogen into the bowls to freeze the mixture.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., anyone could get a free cup of their choice of chocolate, caramel, or vanilla ice cream. A variety of sprinkles were also available.
Christopher Martin, a junior biomedical physics major from Rochester Hills, Mich., was making liquid nitrogen ice cream before lunch. Though Physics Day was actually on Saturday, he was glad to be celebrating early.
“We actually get a whole week,but we just throw an extra day in there to show our dominance over all other sciences,” Martin said.
Dr. Alan Bradshaw, a physics professor here at Lipscomb, was bringing out the liquid nitrogen and helping to make all the ice cream.
“The Society of Physics students wanted to have a celebration,” Bradshaw said. “What better way to celebrate on a hot day than with ice cream? We just have a unique way of making ice cream.”
Conveniently, as the ice cream melted on this hot afternoon, more liquid nitrogen was added to keep refreezing it, but the consistency and taste never changed, no matter how many times they refroze it.