One of my favorite expressions is, “Be a rainbow in someone’s cloud today!” Rainbows seem to be able to make everyone smile. With thunderstorms in the forecast for the next few days, we might have a chance to see some rainbows. Or you can try this cool science experiment and make your own walking rainbow! It is called a walking rainbow because the water uses the process of adhesion to travel up the paper towel and into the next cup, while also mixing primary colors to make the secondary colors in the rainbow.
Supplies you need:
clear cups - 6
water
paper towels - 6 full size pieces
food coloring - red, yellow, and blue
What to do:
Begin by filling three cups almost all of the way with water.
Place a few drops of red dye into the first cup, a few drops of yellow dye into the second cup, and a few drops of blue dye into the third cup.
Place all of the cups in a circle in the following manner: red water, empty cup, yellow water, empty cup, blue water, empty cup.
Fold each piece of paper towel in half and then in half again. Place a paper towel in the red jar all the way to the bottom and fold over the rest of the towel so that it is in the next empty jar, all the way to the bottom of the jar. Repeat this so that all the jars have paper towels in them, as in the photo above.
Now watch as the water travels up through the paper towels and into the empty jars. The colors will begin to mix and make a rainbow!