Question: What amde you want to spend the money on making 'flexible chocolate' rather than a hospital etc?

Krishnaa Mahbubani answered on 17 Jun 2016:

Hey Megan,

I want to spend the prize money on making a device (modified car jack) that can turn chocolate buttons into flexible chocolate (like shoe laces) It is a wonderful way to demonstrate how we can use our understanding of materials and their properties to create things that are seemingly impossible. Just one of the many things that engineering allows you to do! I wanted to do this because it can be used to teach many people (adults and students) and get lots of folk excited about engineering, science and research which I think can do a lot more good in the long term – than putting money into one hospital.

For a better explanation of how the flexible chocolate is made:
Chocolate is made up of cocoa fats and cocoa solids (as well as sugar and flavourings and a few other bits and pieces in there). The cocoa fats melt at a lower temperature than the cocoa solids. By putting chocolate under pressure, (as you would in a modified car jack, with a dye) you can essentially melt the cocoa fats without melting the cocoa solids — this makes the seemingly solid chocolate buttons when pushed through a small dye, turn into flexible stringy chocolate, without it melting in your hands first. You end up with chocolate that you can actually play with!