Milk Painting Experiment
A fun and colorful kids science experiment that combines art and chemistry.
Equipment
- shallow dish or Tupperware
- cotton ball or swabs
Ingredients
- milk
- food coloring
- dish soap
Instructions
- Begin by pouring the milk into the shallow dish, ensuring that the milk covers the bottom evenly. You don’t need much–just a thin layer.
- Add a few drops of food coloring to the milk, placing the drops near the center of the dish. Feel free to experiment with different colors and patterns!
- Dip a cotton swab or cotton ball into the dish soap, making sure it is coated but not dripping. You only need a small amount.
- Gently touch the soapy end of the cotton swab or toothpick to the milk, focusing on the areas where the food coloring is present. Observe the magical transformation!
Notes
What kids learn from this experiment:
- Surface Tension: Surface tension is the force that acts on the surface of a liquid, causing it to behave like a thin, elastic film. When you add the soap to the milk, it disrupts the surface tension, causing fascinating effects. The soap molecules break the surface tension by attaching to the fat molecules in the milk, causing them to disperse.
- Molecular Interactions: The food coloring in the experiment contains water-soluble dyes. When you add soap to the milk, the soap molecules move around and interact with the fat molecules in the milk. This interaction causes the dyes to spread and mix, resulting in vibrant, swirling patterns.
- Emulsion: The milk painting experiment showcases the creation of an emulsion, which is a mixture of two or more liquids that usually don’t blend together. In this case, the dish soap acts as an emulsifier, helping to disperse the fat molecules in the milk and allowing the food coloring to mix more easily.
- Artistic Exploration: Milk painting offers an exciting canvas for artistic expression. Children can experiment with different colors, patterns, and techniques, fostering their creativity and imagination. They can observe how the addition of soap alters the designs, giving them a hands-on understanding of cause and effect.