Haveyoueverheardthephrase"oilandwaterdontmix"?

Firstwewilltestthatexpression,then
lookatinterestingcombinationsofseveralotherliquids.
OilandWater
Youwillneedthefollowingmaterials:
cup(60ml)water
cup(60ml)vegetableoil
asmallglass
foodcoloring
Firstpourthewaterintotheglass.Addacoupleofdropsoffoodcoloringandmix.Nextaddthe
oil.Whatdoyousee?Whichlayerisontop?
Tightlycovertheglasswithplasticwraporyourhand(ifit'sbigenough).Whileholdingtheglass
overasink(incaseyouspill),shaketheglasssothatthetwoliquidsarethoroughlymixed.Set
theglassdownandwatchwhathappens.Dooilandwatermix?
Thewordmiscibilitydescribeshowwelltwosubstancesmix.Oilandwateraresaidtobe
immiscible,becausetheydonotmix.Theoillayerisontopofthewaterbecauseofthe
differenceindensityofthetwoliquids.Thedensityofasubstanceistheratioofitsmass(weight)
toitsvolume.Theoilislessdensethanthewaterandsoisontop.
Thenextexperimentexaminesthemiscibilityanddensityofseveralliquids.
LayeredLiquids
Youwillneedthefollowingmaterials:
cup(60ml)darkcornsyruporhoney
cup(60ml)dishwashingliquid
cup(60ml)water
cup(60ml)vegetableoil
cup(60ml)rubbingalcohol
atall12ounce(350ml)glassorclearplasticcup
twoothercupsformixing
foodcoloring
Takethe12ounceglass.Beingcarefulnotgetsyruponthesideoftheglass;pourthesyrupinto
themiddleoftheglass.Pourenoughsyrupintofilltheglass1/6oftheway.
Afteryouhaveaddedthesyruporhoney,tiptheglassslightlyandpouranequalamountofthe
dishwashingliquidslowlydownthesideoftheglass.Doesthedishwashingliquidfloatontopof
thesyruporsinktothebottom?
Nextmixafewdropsoffoodcoloringwithwaterinoneofthemixingcups.Colortherubbing
alcoholadifferentcolorinanothermixingcup.
BecarefultoaddthenextliquidsVERYSLOWLY.Theyarelessviscous(i.e.,notasthick)and
mixmoreeasilythanthepreviousliquids.Wedon'twantthemtomix.Tiptheglassslightly,and
pouringslowlydownthesideoftheglass,addfirstthecoloredwater,thenthevegetableoil,and
finallythecoloredrubbingalcohol.
Onapieceofpaper,makeasketchoftheglassanditsliquids,labelingthepositionofeachliquid

inyourglass.
Whydotheliquidsstayseparated?Canyouthinkofseveralwaysthattheliquidsintheglassare
different?Trytodescribesomepropertiesthatdifferineachoftheliquidsintheglass.
Onepropertythatisdifferentinalloftheliquidsiscolor.Anotherpropertyuniquetoeachliquid
isthickness(viscosity).
Thepropertyoftheliquidsthatisresponsibleforthelayeringeffectisdensity.Canyouguess
whattherelationshipisbetweenthedensityofaliquidanditspositionintheglass?
Anotherpropertythatkeepstheliquidsseparateisthatsomeofthemareimmiscibleliquids,in
otherwordstheydonotmixwitheachother.Asyouprovedinthefirstexperiment,oilandwater
areimmiscibleliquids.Ontheotherhand,waterandrubbingalcoholaremiscibleandwillmix
witheachother.Waterandthedishwashingliquidwillalsomix.
Stiruptheliquidsintheglassandwatchwhathappenstothelayers.Haveanyofthelayers
mixed(aretheymiscibleineachother)?Waitafewminutesandlookagain.Haveanyofthe
otherliquidsseparated?
Alternateprocedure:Rainbowinaglass.
Youwillneedthefollowingmaterials:
fourdifferentcolorsoffoodcoloring(e.g.red,yellow,green,blue)
fivetallglassesorclearplasticcups
cup(180g)ofgranulatedsugar
atablespoonformeasuring
1cup(240ml)water
Inthefirstglass,addonetablespoon(15g)ofsugar.Inthesecondglass,addtwotablespoonsof
sugar,threeinthethirdglass,andfourinthelastglass.Thenaddthreetablespoons(45ml)of
watertoeachglass,andstiruntilthesugarisdissolved.Ifthesugarinanyoftheglasseswillnot
dissolve,addonemoretablespoon(15ml)ofwatertoalloftheglasses,andstiragain.Whenthe
sugariscompletelydissolved,addtwoorthreedropsofredfoodcoloringtothefirstglass,
yellowtothesecond,greentothethird,andbluetothelastglass.
Intheremainingglasswewillcreateourrainbow.Filltheglassaboutafourthofthewaywiththe
bluesugarsolution.Next,carefullyaddthegreensolutiontotheglass.Dothisbyputtingaspoon
intheglass,justabovethelevelofthebluesolution.Slowlypourthegreensolutionintothe
spoon,raisingthespoontokeepitjustabovetheleveloftheliquid,untiltheglassishalffull.
Addtheyellowsolution,andthentheredoneinthesamemanner.Whatdoyounoticeaboutthe
coloredsolutions?
Theamountofsugardissolvedinaliquidaffectsitsdensity.Thebluesolutionhasthemostsugar
dissolvedinitandisthereforethedensest.Theothersolutionsarelessdensethantheblue
solution,sotheyfloatontopofit.Thedensitiesofthesolutionsshouldbeveryclosehowever,
andthesolutionsaremiscible,soyouwillseethatthelayersdonotformwelldefinedboundaries
asinthefirstexperiment.Ifdonecarefullyenough,thecolorsshouldstayrelativelyseparatefrom
eachother.Whatdoyouthinkwillhappenifyoustiruptheliquidsintheglass?