How to Make a Pea Float

A school science experiment or unique food recipe may require you to learn how to float peas. More likely though, you need to learn how to float peas to eliminate swim bladder disease in your goldfish. This common disease causes fish to swim upside-down and even float to the top of the tank. Peas are widely known as an effective remedy against this disease. Treating the peas so they float also puts them in perfect position for ailing fish to eat.

Things You'll Need

  • Sink
  • Peas
  • Spoon
  • Freezer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Wash fresh peas off under a sink and wash your hands thoroughly to remove any dirt. Clean peas float better than dirty peas.

    • 2

      Keep the water on the peas after washing and place in a bowl. Next, place the bowl in a freezer for several hours. The freezer causes the inner liquid inside the pea to expand and become lighter than water, much like what happens to ice and the reason it floats to the top. Additionally, the peas' wet surface also freezes and gives the peas additional buoyancy.

    • 3

      Remove the peas from the freezer and hit with a spoon or other hard object to break. The wet surface causes some of the peas to freeze together and often requires you to break the frozen bond between some of the peas.

    • 4

      Gently place the frozen peas on the surface of the water without submerging them underneath the surface. This keeps the frozen peas floating at the surface and in proper position for your ailing fish to eat or for any other purposes for wanting peas to float to the surface.