Isn't it exciting to see a rainbow? The beautiful array of colors is a wonder - it may seem like magic, but we can understand rainbows through science!
Put simply, rainbows occur when white light from the sun bounces off raindrops at a particular angle and splits into all the colors we can see.
In this month's 20 Minute Lab, we'll make our own rainbows using common liquids from your kitchen! Instead of splitting light, we'll make our rainbows using density.
Like real rainbows, this one won't last forever, but it's sure neat while it does.
NOTE: the amount of each liquid you use will depend on your jar's size and how thick you want to make the rainbow stripes. For each liquid, you will want to use equal amounts, except for the oil - you will use double the amount. In the Yellow Scope lab, we used half a cup of each liquid and a full cup of oil.
CONCLUSION
What's going on?
Why don't all the different liquids just mix together instead of forming layers? Well, each liquid has a different density. The different liquids stack on top of each other, with the most dense on the bottom and the least dense on the top.
Density refers to how much stuff can be packed in a given space. Scientists call the “stuff”, mass and the “space”, volume.
You might remember from last month's 20 Minute Lab, Lava Lamp in a Glass, that some molecules are larger than others. Some liquids are made up of small molecules that are packed tightly together (more dense), while other liquids are made of large molecules that are more spread out (less dense).
Liquids made up of smaller molecules, like water, are more dense and sink toward the bottom. Liquids made up of larger molecules like oil are less dense and don't sink as much.
In this experiment, you poured the liquids into the jar in a specific order, from the most dense (honey) to least dense (rubbing alcohol). In this way, each new layer stacked on top of the layer below it. You could repeat the experiment and try adding the liquids in a different order to see what would happen!
NOTE: If you used 70% rubbing alcohol (like we did), that means that the other 30% is water. This means that when you added the alcohol, some of it sunk into the oil (creating that orange layer), since water is denser than oil and wants to go underneath the oil layer!
SHARE WITH US!
Let us know what you did. Share your photos and results with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or send us an email to info@yellow-scope.com. We love getting your messages!
For more exciting experiments, check out our Yellow Scope Science Kits on the Shop tab of our website!
Chelsea Schuyler
Author