Welcome to our Halloween density experiment. Density is actually a very cool concept to explore and leads to lots of fun, creative science opportunities too.
What do you think?
What you need to make a density tower
Treacle
Golden Syrup
Water
Food colouring
Vegetable Oil
Small items to test for floating
Density Tower Instructions
Pour each liquid into the glass slowly starting with the treacle, then the golden syrup, followed by the water with added food colouring and finally the vegetable oil.
Drop a few small items in and see which layer they float on.
You can see below that we have a plastic bug floating on the top, a LEGO brick floating on the water and a paper clip floating on the treacle. Why do they do this?
Why does a density tower work?
For a full explanation see last week’s post.
We’d love to see your creepy or even very pretty density creations.
If you liked this spooky activity, you’ll love our collection of Halloween Science Experiments, including making fake blood, spooky potions and lots more creepy science.
Don’t forget to check out our other fun science activities for children too!
Donna
September 14, 2012 at 1:28 pmtreacle is molasses
tara
October 1, 2012 at 2:49 pmthanks! i was just about to google that!
mejaka
October 2, 2012 at 4:18 pmThanks, Donna! I assume corn syrup can sub for the golden, since that isn’t readily available in the states either. (My favorite granola recipe calls for Lyle’s and I’ve been wondering if it’s worth ordering…currently I sub honey.)
maggy, red ted art
September 20, 2012 at 5:55 pmOooh YUK! 🙂
Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
ScienceSparks
September 23, 2012 at 1:00 pmHa ha, we like yuck!
Carrie
September 21, 2012 at 4:56 pmSo neat!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Kendra
October 16, 2013 at 1:34 amI know this sounds stupid, but I just want to make sure that I understand correctly. The molasses won’t mix with the corn syrup? Even if a child shakes it?