Segment #6 - Density Layers

Density Layers

Segment 6

Welcome to the Science Playground! Today we're going to exploring density through our DENSITY LAYER TOWER. 

The density of a liquid is determined by its mass or how close its molecules are packed together. 

The ingredients you're going to need for this experiment includes:

• Rubbing Alcohol
• Dish Soap
• Lamp Oil
• Baby Oil
• Food Colouring 
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Canola or Vegetable Oil
• Corn Syrup
• Honey
• Chocolate Syrup
• Milk
• Maple Syrup

The materials you're going to need for this experiment includes:

• A Glass
• A Bowl
• A Spoon
• Turkey Baster  

This experiment isn't hazardous, it's never a bad idea to wear goggles, an apron or lab coat and a pair of gloves to protect against spills and splashes.

The first step is to take your honey and pour it into the bottom of your glass. Be extra careful not to drip the honey on the sides of the glass. If the honey touches the bottom of the glass, it is best to wash your glass out and start over. Next, you're going to fill your turkey baster with the corn syrup. The turkey baster will help us gently place the liquids on top of each other, without disturbing the layer below it. Gently squeeze the turkey baster to place the corn syrup on top of the honey. After making your syrup layer, wash and dry your turkey baster. You must wash it after every different liquid is used.

Next, use the turkey baster to place the chocolate syrup on top of the corn syrup. 

Now continue this step with the maple syrup, but very gently and slowly to prevent the chocolate syrup from mixing with the maple syrup. REMEMBER TO WASH YOUR BASTER AFTER EVERY USE.

We're now going to place our milk onto the tower, then the dish soap.

Before you add the next layer, which is water, mix in a little bit of food colouring. We used purple to make the colour stand out from the rest of the liquids. After the food colouring is mixed in, place the coloured water on top of your dish soap with the turkey baster.

Next, add the vegetable oil to your tower.

Then add the extra virgin olive oil.

Before you add in the rubbing alcohol, mix it with a little bit of food colouring to make it stand out. We used green to make it POP! Gently add it to your tower with the baster.

Now add your baby oil to the tower.

The final layer we are going to add to our tower is the lamp oil. 

You now have a density tower that has 12 different layers that shows how different liquids can be stacked because of the differences of their densities.

Lets look at this experiment a little closer. All liquids have a set amount of different molecules. If we are to take three of our liquids, eg./ Lamp oil, water, and honey, we can compare the different masses between them. If a liquid has a higher density than water, it will become much heavier. If a liquid has a lower density or less molecules, it becomes lighter.

If we take a look at our density tower, we can see that the liquid at the bottom of the glass, the honey, has the highest density of all of the liquids. The liquid at the top of the glass, the lamp oil, has the lowest density. As we work our way up from the highest density, to the lowest density, we can see how our density tower works.

So that's it for today guys! I hope you enjoyed this experiment, stay tuned for our next segment on Non-Newtonian Fluids - SLIME!

If you have any questions regarding this experiment or science in general, feel free to email me at englishprojectscience@gmail.com