Swirling Colors: Exercises in Dissolving
A drop of food coloring glides gently through a cup of water, making beautiful streamers and swirls of color, but try adding a drop of food coloring to a glass of salt water and the color patterns you see are totally different.
The boys observed, compared and recorded the patterns of color made in various liquids. They discovered that some liquids that may appear the same are actually very different. The different liquids changed the way the food coloring moved. The food coloring slowly swirled through plain water; in salt water it started to sink and then returned to the upper part of the cup and the coloring in bubbly water dispersed quickly. Even though the liquids looked similar, what happened to the color shows that they are different.We also looked at food coloring in sugar water, and concluded our investigations with a refreshing surprise! By adding lemon juice to the colored sugar water, we made pink lemonade!
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