Creating Layers in Multiple Density Solutions for Demonstration Purposes

¶ … Density in Solutions Density Rainbow in a Glass Materials Assemble the following materials: Tablespoon for measuring Measuring cup (1/4 or 1 full cup with 1/4 markings) different colors of food coloring (4 colors) tall clear glasses, clear glass jars, or clear plastic cups ae cup (180 g) of granulated sugar cup (240 ml) water I lined up all the clear glass jars, and placed one tablespoon of sugar in the first glass, two tablespoons of sugar in the second glass, three tablespoons of sugar in the third glass, and four tablespoons of sugar in the fourth glass.

I then added three tablespoons of water to each glass jar and stirred until I could see that the sugar had dissolved. I had to add more water (one additional tablespoon) to the third and fourth glass jars in order to get the sugar to completely dissolve, so I also added the same amount of water to jars one and two.

Once the sugar had completely dissolved, I added three drops of food coloring to the contents of each of the jars, in this order: red food coloring to jar one, yellow food coloring to jar two, green food coloring to jar three, and blue food coloring to jar four. The fifth jar was reserved for "creating the rainbow." I poured the blue sugar solution into the fifth glass jar to a point roughly one fourth of the way to the top.

I then added the green solution to the fifth glass jar, using the following technique. I held a spoon just above the level of the blue solution and poured the green solution very slowly into the spoon, while continuing to raise the level of the spoon so that it was maintained at a position just above the liquid. I added the green sugar solution in this way until the liquid filled the glass jar to a height roughly one half full.

Similarly, I added the yellow sugar solution and the red sugar solution until the fifth glass jar was essentially filled nearly to the top ("Home Experiments," n.d.). Observations Each of the sugar solutions appeared to support the other layers of sugar solutions above. The blue solution had the most dissolved sugar, making it the most dense of the four sugar solutions. The less dense sugar solutions appear to float on top of the more dense sugar solutions.

However, the densities of the solutions are not hugely different, and the solutions are known to be miscible, an attribute that did not enable well defined boundaries for the layers ("ScienceGeek," n.d). That is to say, the layers could be easily disturbed. Conclusions The results of the lab make sense, and the prospect of stirring up.