Do you want to add a little spooky science this year? Our Halloween density experiment is perfect for you, young mad scientist! Halloween is a fun time of year to try out classic science experiments. We used this skeleton head cup to give a spooky twist to a classic liquid density science experiment!
Supplies for doing the Spooky Density Experiment
- Tall Cup or Jar
- Vegetable Oil
- Water
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Corn Syrup
- Food Coloring
- Alka Seltzer Tablets
- Eye Dropper
Setting up
Set up a tray with all the ingredients to get started on your spooky Halloween density experiment! Small plastic bowls from the dollar store are always great to have on hand. You can add food coloring to the alcohol and water as desired. You can choose to make the colors Halloween themed for added fun.
Step 1: To get started, pour your vegetable oil into the cup or jar.
Step 2: Think about what will happen when the liquids have been added. Once you’ve made your prediction, use an eyedropper to add water to the oil. Now, observe which liquid is lighter or heavier, the heaviest is the denser one.
What is Liquid Density all about?
Does a cup of water weigh the same amount as a cup of oil? The answer is that different liquids weigh different amounts (given the measurements are the same) and that is because each type of liquid is made up with a different combination of atoms and molecules. Some of these molecules are packed more tightly together than others too!.
You will find that when you add water to the oil, the water sinks to the bottom, and essentially the oils floats. They definitely don’t mix. Water is denser than oil. Now, let’s continue with our experiment!.
Step 3: One you have added your oil and water and made your observations, you can go ahead and pour the corn syrup into the cup. Here’s another opportunity for you to guess if the syrup will be heavier or lighter than the liquids already in the cup.
Step 4: Now it’s time to use an eyedropper again to add colored drops of rubbing alcohol to the cup. What happens? The droplets sink and rise back up. Is the alcohol lighter or heavier than the other liquids? You can keep having fun adding more of each liquid to keep the experiment going!
Share your Halloween Density Experiment
Share your projects with us at scsa@edupix.org so we can share it with everyone!