You will need a paper towel, a black marker (washable only, not permanent), water, a flat plate, and the pipette from your Kiddie Science Kit.
During this experiment, we will be exploring what the color black is made of through chromatography. Chromatography is a laboratory technique to separate mixtures. In this experiment, we will be separating colors.
Tear or cut out a 2x5 piece of the absorbent paper towel. Using a washable black marker, draw a black line across the short end of the paper towel, approximately 2 inches from the bottom. Using your pipette, place 20 drops of water in the center of the flat plate. Very carefully, dip the bottom end of the paper towel in the water drops. Watch as the water travels up the paper towel via capillary action. While still holding the paper towel, continue slowly adding the water drops to the center of the plate and watch what happens as the water reaches the black line. The colors that make up the color black will start to separate, revealing what its made of.
With the remaining pieces of the paper towel, conduct other experiments with the variations below and observe what happens:
~ make the black line thicker or thinner
~ conduct the experiment with the paper towel laying flat on the plate
~ what happens when you use other colors (green, purple, orange)?
Share pictures of your experiment on our Facebook page and you may be featured in our Scientist Spotlight spotlight segment coming in February.
** For a limited time, get 15% off your Science Kit purchase with coupon code SAVE15KS **
During this experiment, we will be exploring what the color black is made of through chromatography. Chromatography is a laboratory technique to separate mixtures. In this experiment, we will be separating colors.
Tear or cut out a 2x5 piece of the absorbent paper towel. Using a washable black marker, draw a black line across the short end of the paper towel, approximately 2 inches from the bottom. Using your pipette, place 20 drops of water in the center of the flat plate. Very carefully, dip the bottom end of the paper towel in the water drops. Watch as the water travels up the paper towel via capillary action. While still holding the paper towel, continue slowly adding the water drops to the center of the plate and watch what happens as the water reaches the black line. The colors that make up the color black will start to separate, revealing what its made of.
With the remaining pieces of the paper towel, conduct other experiments with the variations below and observe what happens:
~ make the black line thicker or thinner
~ conduct the experiment with the paper towel laying flat on the plate
~ what happens when you use other colors (green, purple, orange)?
Share pictures of your experiment on our Facebook page and you may be featured in our Scientist Spotlight spotlight segment coming in February.
** For a limited time, get 15% off your Science Kit purchase with coupon code SAVE15KS **
