Ann Arbor narrowly avoided a full day below zero degrees Tuesday, but the extreme cold created the perfect condition for a number of fun experiments.

YouTube videos from freezing locations across the Midwest inspired staffers from The Ann Arbor News to try out a few of the most popular tests, as well as develop one of our own.

We settled on trying the most popular trick first, throwing boiling water into the freezing wind. Next, we tried to blow bubbles that would freeze in mid-air and we finished by hammering a nail into wood using a banana as a hammer.

Amy Biolchini, our intrepid K-12 education reporter, proposed a fourth activity in the newsroom. She pondered whether one could freeze an egg on the sidewalk in extreme cold, much as one could fry an egg on the sidewalk in extreme heat.

The big mist:

The Theory: Throwing boiling water into the air in sub-zero temperatures will create a cloud of mist/snow instantaneously.

The Science: According to a blog post by Joe Larson, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, the boiling water freezes when it is thrown because the water is closer to being steam and is less viscous than cold water. When it is thrown into the air, the boiling water breaks into tiny droplets that have a lot of surface area that is exposed to the freezing temperatures. The droplets are so small that the air is able to freeze them long before they hit the ground.

The verdict: Success! Mostly. Our boiling water did turn to mist, but not exactly as we had planned. We added food coloring to the water in an attempt to make it "pop" more visually, but our crystalized water still looked white.

Bubble time:

The Theory: Blowing bubbles in sub-zero temperatures will result in the bubbles freezing into beautiful glass-like globes that will then collapse.

The Science: The water between layers of soap in the bubble freezes before the soap does, allowing the bubble to solidify.

The Verdict: Either I'm an insufficiently proficient bubble blower, it was too windy or this is just an extremely difficult experiment to pull off. We tried heating up the bubble solution and we used various mixtures of water and soap but were unable to capture a frozen bubble.

Eggs over frozen:

The theory: On a blazing hot day you can cook an egg on the sidewalk, so on a freezing cold day you can freeze one.

The science: According to the Oregon State food sciences department, the freezing point of eggs is 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Needless to say we were in a cold enough climate to freeze an egg on the sidewalk.

The verdict: Success! The egg did not freeze instantaneously, but within four minutes, we had a solidly frozen egg on The Ann Arbor News balcony. The whites froze to a translucent color, while the yoke remained dark yellow/orange until disturbed, at which point a lighter color emerged.

The banana hammer:

The Theory: Leaving a banana out in the cold for long enough will freeze it to the point that it can be used to hammer a nail through wood.

The science: This one is pretty simple. The water inside the banana freezes solid, causing the banana to become hard enough to drive nails through wood.

The verdict: Mixed bag. The banana was stout enough to start the nails into an apple crate but it could not finish the job. We ended up with two partially hammered nails and a lot of pieces of frozen banana.

We know that these are just a few of the many cold-weather activities available. Did you do anything fun or learn anything new over the last two snow days? Share in the comments and let us know what we should try next time.

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News and professional amateur scientist and know-it-all. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.