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Nervous Colours ~ Colour Changing Milk Experiment

Nervous Colours

Simple Living. Creative Learning
This Nervous Colours or Colour Changing Milk Experiment was a crazy experiment. It was amazing to see the colours run like they did, changing every time we did this experiment. 
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Ingredients
 

  • whole or 2% milk, at room temperature
  • food colouring
  • toothpick, cotton bud or cotton ball
  • 1 tsp dishwashing liquid / soap, washing up detergent
  • large glass or white plate / bowl

Instructions
 

  • Pour the milk into the bowl and let it sit until it is at room temperature.
    Nervous Colours ~ Colour Changing Milk Experiment
  • Then, in the middle of the plate, add some drops of your desired colour/s of food colouring, leaving a space between the colours. It is okay if they touch a little, but not too much. The colours will just start to spread out and may mix a little, but that is fine.
    Nervous Colours ~ Colour Changing Milk Experiment
  • Place the toothpick / cotton bud or cotton ball into the dishwashing liquid, letting it absorb up some of it. 
  • Gently place the cotton ball or hold the cotton bud or toothpick in the centre of the colours. 
    Nervous Colours ~ Colour Changing Milk Experiment
  • The coloured drops should quickly disperse to the sides of the plate, leaving cool designs in the milk.
    Nervous Colours ~ Colour Changing Milk Experiment
  • If using a toothpick or cotton bud, you can redip it into more dishwashing liquid and hold it in the colours around the edge of the plate.
  • Why do these colours run away?
    When you place the dishwashing liquid into the milk, it bonds with the fat in the milk, holding onto it tightly. This bond is so strong, that the food colouring is pushed away. If you use a milk with no-fat in it such as skim milk, you will find that the colours aren't pushed away as there is no fat for the dishwashing liquid to bond with.
    As the soap becomes evenly mixed in with the milk, the action starts to slow down and it will eventually stop. This why a milk with a higher fat content produces a better colour explosion - there is more fat to combine with the soap molecules.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. The values may vary according to the ingredients and tools that are used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed information.

Keyword Experiment, Science
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