You will need:
q Packet of Gems (or any other candy which is coated in colour)
q Coffee filter paper (3 inches by 3 inches in size)
q 1/8th teaspoonful of salt and 3 cups of water
q Tall glass and large empty bottle
q Aluminium foil (8 inches by 4 inches in size) and toothpicks
q Ruler and scissors
Find out which coloured dyes are used for creating which coloured sweets with this experiment.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Firstly, mark 5 equidistant dots on the coffee filter paper on a straight line at one end, with ½ inch gap at each corner.
- Take the aluminium foil and place 5 drops
of water equidistant from one another on it.
3. Lay out different coloured gems/candy on the aluminium foil, on the equidistant drops of water.
4. Wait till the colour from the gems dissolves into the water.
5. Take 5 different toothpicks. Dip the first toothpick into the first coloured water and make a small dot on the first marking on the coffee filter paper.
6. Repeat this for all the colours with different dots being of different colours. Wait for the dots to dry and repeat this process 3 more times.
7. Fold the coffee filter paper vertically and make it stand, with the dots being on the lower side of the filter, horizontally.
8. Make a salt solution with 3 cups water + 1/8th teaspoonful of salt. Mix till salt dissolves.
9. Pour ½ inch of the salt solution into tall glass.
10. Stand the coffee filter paper into the glass. The coloured dots will be just above the water.
RESULT
Slowly, the salt water starts to climb up the coffee filter paper and breaks down the colours that also climb and separate. Due to the salt solution, some of these dyes cling to the paper while others dissolve creating a band of varying colours. This is known as chromatography.
