This simple and fun ⚗️science experiment with Skittles is visually astonishing and scientifically intriguing! It is also very easy to conduct at home utilizing 🍭materials you probably have {Do you still have those unwanted 🎃👻Halloween candies?} but 🙅🏼refrain from giving to your 👦🏼child due to artificial coloring⁉️ So, what to do with those ❌not-too-healthy 🍭sweets? ⚗️Science experiment of course!
What you will need:
- a plate with a white middle part,
- Skittles (or other coated sweets),
- water.
Place your Skittles on a white plate, creating a circle. (You may offer an older child to create a pattern.) Carefully pour warm water, just enough to have the water touch the Skittles. Watch what happens!
https://player.vimeo.com/video/250529884
Skittles dissolve quickly, so you have an awesome science unfold in front of you right away!
Science mystery revealed: The color and sugar dissolve into the water and then diffuse through it. Since Skittles are coated with food coloring and sugar (ingredients that are prone to dissolve in water), when you pour water over Skittles, the colored coating dissolves spreading through the water.
This low resource fun activity provides many opportunities for investigation and further extensions:
- Make a rainbow! Arrange Skittles in a circle in rainbow order: red, orange, yellow, green, and purple on a white plate. (A perfect St. Patrick's Day activity!)
- Try using different water temperature, or white vinegar or even lemonade to discover what happens.
- Try using other coated sweets: can you find one that works as well as Skittles? (Did you try spearmint?) Candy dissolving science is fun to test out with a variety of liquids and candies. Different candies dissolve at different rates.
- Time how long does the color take to reach the center of the plate using cold and warm water? Which do you think will be faster? The reason sugar dissolves faster in hot water has to do with increased molecular motion. The added energy in the hot water causes water molecules to move faster and sucrose molecules to vibrate faster. This added movement tends to make the bonds between sucrose molecules easier to overcome.
- Time how long does it take for Skittles to dissolve in water? After about two minutes in contact with water, Skittles lose its outer coating. After about 12 minutes, half of the Skittle have been dissolved, and after about 25 minutes of sitting in the water, all Skittles have completely dissolved.
More questions for the inquisitive mind:
- Why do you think the colors do not mix, but rather gather like a rainbow in the center?
- What can you do to hasten the process?
- Can you detect the ‘S’ from the skittles? What happens to it?
For more on Science🔬⚗️⚖️:
- We did a similar experiment but with Spearmint candies ~ see here ❤️Valentine's Inspired Unit Study.
-
See here 💛💙❤️Primary Colors, 💦Water & Paper Capillary Action ⌛️Timelapse ⚗️ Kids Science Experiment (🌈 Rainbow Walking Water).
-
See here a video-post "🎨Painting with 🌈Colored Vinegar on Baking Soda Science Experiment."
- See here a video post "🎶Musical 💦Water 🌈Glasses (Science🔬⚗️⚖️ 101 🎥Series 🎇)."
- See here "Paper Towel, Markers and 💦Water 🌈 Color Mixing ⚗️Experiment (🔬⚗️⚖️Science meets 🎨Art 101 🎥Series 🎇)."
For ❄️ Winter inspired activities, see here ☃️ Winter Inspired Unit Study.
For🎅🏻Christmas inspired activities, see here 🎄Christmas Inspired Unit Study.
No Comments