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Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website.

The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources.

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The powder mixture for crater formation seems to work best when it consists of 1 part white flour to 1 part granulated sugar. Stir the mixture before use to break up any mixture hardening due to settling. Smooth with the Plexiglas plate and then sprinkle a layer of cocoa or cinnamon on top.  This helps bring out the crater features and splatter definition.  Throw ball bearings at the mixture at varying angles. A variety of sizes may be used, however the 1/4 inch ball bearing seem to give the best crater formation representation.