Liquid Rainbows

This month, we’re bringing chemistry to the kitchen! Every time a child’s tasty treat is made, the fundamental principles of chemistry are involved. By performing the experiments in Slinky ® Science Kitchen Chemistry, kids will see different ways that chemistry is used every day. Your little chemist will study how matter changes, how it reacts under different situations, and what happens when different types of matter combine with one another. It’s simple, fun, and educational!

You need from home:

1. Fill the bottom 1/4 of the glass with corn syrup. Mix in a drop of red food coloring.

2. Mix 1/8 cup (30ml) of corn syrup with 1/8 cup of cold water. Mix well. Slowly pour this on top of the corn syrup in the glass.

3. Mix a drop of yellow and a drop of red food coloring into 1/4 cup (60 ml) of hot water. Slowly add this to the glass.

4. Add a top layer of cooking oil.

Try adding some food coloring to the cooking oil. Do the two combine? With your spoon, mix up the different liquids in the glass to see how they respond.

You’ve learned how some molecules combine with others. But what happens when they won’t combine? Two liquids that don’t combine with one another are called immiscible. For example, when you mix oil and water, the oil forms a separate layer on top of the water. This is because the water is heavier than the equal amount of the oil. Scientists say it has greater density. Now you are an official Kitchen Chemist!

Did this work for you? Do you have any other ideas using these same principles? Let us know in the comment section below!