Bite-Size Physics

You Need:

Tall clear glass or jar

Vegetable oil

Corn syrup

Water

Food Coloring (not necessary but fun)

Rubbing Alcohol (the higher the percentage of alcohol the better)

Miscellaneous items

1. Put in about an inch or so of corn syrup.

2. Put in about an inch or so of alcohol. Pour it in slowly.

3. Add an inch or so of water. Pour it slowly too. You can add food coloring if you wish.

4. Lastly, add an inch or so of oil. Again, pour slowly.

5. If you have more materials or a larger jar you can make the layers of liquids thicker if you wish.

6. Now that you've got the separate layers, have even more fun by doing this. Drop miscellaneous items into the mixture. Different items will sink to different levels. Some will float on the water, some on the oil, etc.

This works due to the fact that the different liquids have different densities and so they float on one another. The items also have different densities allowing them to float at different levels of the liquids.

Back to the Lab