Liquid Rainbow

rainbow in a jar

we found this book at the library

how to make a liquid rainbow by lori shores

you will need the following items:

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup blue dish soap

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup rubbing alcohol

3 mugs

1 quart jar

spoon

red, blue, yellow and green food coloring.

Start by pouring a 1/2 cup corn syrup into a mug.  

stir in 1 drop of blue and 1 drop of red food coloring

pour the liquid into the glass jar

next slowly pour 1/2 cup of blue dish soap into the jar

mix 2 drops of green food coloring to 1/2 cup water

tilt the jar and slowly pour the green water inside.

next, slowly pour the 1/2 cup of olive oil into the jar

in another mug, stir 2 drops of red food coloring into a 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol

tilt the jar and slowly pour in the mixture

then, stand back and take a look

do you see the rainbow?

just a bit of a warning, you really do need to stand back or across the room.

if you look at the jar close up, you won't see it as clearly.

how it works...

liquids are made up of very small particles and how tightly they are packed together 

determines the density of the liquid.

for example, the dish soap floats on top of the corn syrup, because the soap is less dense.

you slowly poured the water in so that it wouldn't mix with the soap.

water is less dense than the soap, so it floated on top, etc.

pretty cool, huh?

we thought so too.