Sugar can play a role in several fun and educational at-home science experiments to keep kids learning (and having fun) this summer.
The Sugar Water Rainbow you’ll create in this science experiment is a display of density. Density is the number of particles in a given volume. When the sugar dissolves in the water, it increases the density of the water. The blue sugar solution has the most sugar, so it has the greatest number of sugar particles per cup. The densest solution stays at the bottom and the least dense stays on top.
Ingredients/Supplies:
- 5 glasses
- 12 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups water
- Food coloring
- Tablespoon measure
- A pipette, syringe or baster
Directions:
- Put 1 cup of warm water into 4 of the glasses.
- Add 2-3 drops of red food coloring to the first glass, yellow to the second, green to the third and blue to the fourth.
- In the glass with red food coloring, do not add any sugar. Add 2 tablespoon of sugar to the yellow glass, 4 tablespoons to the green glass and 6 tablespoons to the blue glass. Stir the mixture in each glass until the sugar is dissolved.
- Using the pipette, syringe or baster, fill the empty fifth glass about ¼ full with the blue sugar solution. Then, going slowly so you don’t mix the layers, add the same amount of green solution which should sit on top of the blue sugar water. Do the same with yellow and then red.
- And there you have it – the perfect sugar water rainbow!
Here are a few more ideas for some sugar science fun:
- Homemade Bubbles [hyperlink – https://www.sugar.org/blog/homemade-bubbles/ ]
- Ice Cream in a Bag [hyperlink – https://www.sugar.org/blog/vanilla-ice-cream/ ]
