Case of the vanishing colours
As I write the article, I am listening to the news and it does not sound like we are in for a pleasant time on the weekend, blizzard, cold, extreme winds, icy are all words that keep popping up.
I know it is November, but this week we truly were spoiled weather-wise.
It rarely happens that we experience almost record breaking warm temperatures, it is usually the other way around. So what better way to enjoy the weekend than do some science inside?
I thought we could also use up some of that Halloween candy sitting on the counter. Let’s get started.
Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.
Materials
clear glass bowl
Jelly Belly Jelly Beans or M and Ms water science notebook pen or pencil
Procedure
1. Fill the clear glass bowl about half full of water.
2. Add five or six candies to the bowl. Make sure you have enough water in the bowl to cover the candies. Also ensure that the logo on the candy is facing upwards.
3. You have to be patient now; it is going to take some time for this experiment to produce any visible results.
4. Make observations every minute. Record these in your science notebook.
5. After about 20 minutes do you observe anything unique?
What is going on?
This experiment takes some patience. You will initially see the colours coming off of the candy. This is because the dye that is used in making these colours is water soluble or will dissolve in water. The special part of this experiment is after about 20 minutes. It is pretty exciting to see the letters “M” or the “Jelly Belly” logo will float to the surface of the bowl! You might wonder why they do not also dissolve in the water. This is because these logos are not water soluble or able to dissolve in water.
Some candy manufacturers also use an edible glue to adhere their logos to their candies.
Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, www. praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@ praxismh.ca.