 your results
Sent in by:
Sara of NB
Make beautiful colored designs!
- 3 clear plastic cups
- water
- cooking oil
- liquid food coloring
- pencil
- Check with a grown-up before you begin.
- Fill one cup about 2/3 full of water and another about 2/3 full of oil.
- Add a few drops of food coloring to each cup. Leave space between the drops so they don't touch. What happens?
- Now fill the third cup about 2/3 full of water. Pour in enough cooking oil so it forms a thin layer on top of the water.
- What do you think will happen if you add food coloring to this last cup? Make a prediction and then test it out.
- Touch one of the drops of food coloring in the last cup with the tip of a pencil. What happens?
- Here's why this works. When you add food coloring to water, it mixes in. When you add food coloring to oil, it stays in a little ball and does not mix in. Why? Food coloring is mostly made of water, and water and oil don't mix. Even if you stir them, the oil separates and forms a layer on top of the water. So when you add food coloring to the cup that has water and oil, each drop is coated with oil. That is why the drops sit in the oil layer. The oil is like a raft that helps the food coloring float. If you poke a drop with a pencil, the oil layer is broken. Then the food coloring mixes with the water and makes a cool design.
Now it's time for you to experiment. What happens if you use vinegar instead of food coloring? What happens if you use a different kind of cooking oil? Choose one thing to change (that's the variable), and predict what you think will happen. Then test it and send us your results.
Jane of Brown Deer, WI wrote:
We loved how the water with food color mixed it right away and the oil one the food color stayed in balls. When we add the oil with the water, the oil stayed on top but it turned started to make bubbles, like a lava lamp! It was so cool!
Cardajea, age 13 of Chicago, IL wrote:
When I dia color splash it was a fun expriment and when I added the food coloring with the oil and water the food coloring stayed in the thin layer of oil.
Zenita, age 13 of Coushatta, LA wrote:
it made all different colers and the oil had sunk into the bowl. and the one with the water all mixed and made a green coler.
Abigail, age 8 of Irving, TX wrote:
when I put the oil in the water the oil did not sink.
Felipe, age 10 of Irving, TX wrote:
When I try this it was fun. When our class put water and oil and food color we mixed it and made a gliter.
J'Len, age 9 of Irving, TX wrote:
color splash was fun. the oil sat on top the water. when you stir the water and oil it look like glitter.
Rene, age 11 of Irving, TX wrote:
i think it was nice. its fun trying science. that project was fun. the oil stayed on top the of the water and when you put the coloring water it stays like a bubble.
Yibrehu, age 10 of Irving, TX wrote:
the oil, the food coloring, and the water went into layers. it was very cool.
Benny, age 7 of Irving, TX wrote:
When I put the dots it changed colors in the water.
Diarmando, age 8 of Irving, TX wrote:
the water changes color.
Emmanuei, age 7 of Irving, TX wrote:
i tried this experiement. I like it. It was fun.
Angel, age 6 of Irving, TX wrote:
the water is more heavier than the oil. the oil is lighter than the water.
Jessica, age 12 of Halifax, NS wrote:
The oil was on top and the water was on the bottom, I put the food coloring and it stood in the middle in a ball, then eventually it sank to the bottom and color went everywhere. It was awesome!
Vishnu, age 13 of Thanjavur, India wrote:
it seems wonderfull!!!
Leannah, age 7 of Indianapolis, IN wrote:
I really think it was awesome!!!
Nathan, age 7 of Austin, TX wrote:
The first cup with water mixed up. The oil one the drops became balls. The last one it turned gold. I liked this.
Brian & Joshua, age 8 of CA wrote:
The bubbles diffused in water but in oil went into little dots. When we added dish soap stayed in strands of soap.
Esmeralda, age 15 of TX wrote:
When I added vinegar to the first cup with water and the other one with cooking oil, both of them had bubbles on it.
Haylee, age 13 of Palestine, TX wrote:
it worked! it was so awesome!!! pretty colors!
Connor, age 9 of Knoxville, TN wrote:
We followed the instructions and then added a drop of dish soap. The dish soap broke up the oil layer and then the food coloring drops to the bottom quicker. We also tried foam dish soap and food coloring sat on the foam bubbles.
Teona, age 9 of Temple Hills, MD wrote:
when I finshed the project it was colorful.
Monica, age 10 of Lompoc, CA wrote:
i did not put the right amount of oil in the water... but other than that it was cool.
Angela, age 12 of Hayward, CA wrote:
it was cool. I did it in the 4th grade with a friend and now I'm doing it again in 6th grade because its cool.
Angela, age 13 of Brooklyn, NY wrote:
It was so cool!! I had fun doing it.
Bob, age 14 of Bowling Green, KY wrote:
it was cool! the colors were preety.
Kris, age 12 of Kimberly, ID wrote:
My little sister and I loved watching the colors! We put in blue and yellow food coloring, so when the colors mixed, we got an awesome green!
Ciara, age 12 of Yankton, SD wrote:
it made all different colers. the oil sank into the bowl. and the one with the water all mixed and made a red brown color.
Durga, age 11 of Hamden, CT wrote:
when I did the experiment Color Splash it was a blast. I had so much fun now I am going to tri another experiment and I hpoe it will be as fun as this one was.
Sharon, age 16 of Floral Park, NY wrote:
color splash was pretty awesome, but I used orange food coloring powder, so I couldnt conclude anything srry, but I know its a kool experiment.
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