BRYAN, Tex. (KBTX) – The past couple weeks, we have touched on all aspects of the water cycle, diving in deeper on how to make a cloud in a jar . So from here, the last step in the process is precipitation. We will show you it using chemistry, but explain how the process works in the atmosphere using physics.
For this activity you will need
• glass jars (2)
• water
• oil
• food coloring (any color but yellow works best since oil has the yellow tint)
• and a spoon.
Water molecules are attracted to one another. Since food coloring is water-based, it will continue the chain being attracted to the water molecules and the color quickly spreads. Oil, however, is not a compound that is attracted to water molecules so the color will not mix together.
Step 1: Pour water into one glass jar and oil into the other.
Step 2: Add a few drops of food coloring to the oil (you can use all one color or a few drops of each color). I suggest not using yellow as that color will blend in to the oil and make the experiment difficult to see.
Step 3: Mix the oil and food coloring together, trying to break up some of the bigger droplets into smaller ones.
Step 4: Add the oil mixture to the water and watch the process unfold.
Watch the video above for more information on this activity.