Viscosity and Jelly Science Investigation

We recently tried exploring the viscosity of fluids using water, oil, golden syrup and honey. The main problem we had was that for some of the liquids, the marble dropped too fast for us to record the time. With this in mind, we decided to try the same experiment with different strength jellies.

I made three different jelly mixtures in test tubes.

Solution A – Normal jelly

Solution B – Normal jelly diluted with half water

Solution C- Solution B diluted with half water again.

I would recommend amending those dilutions a little. We found that even after 5 minutes, the marble hadn’t made it halfway through Solution A, and it dropped through B and C too fast.

If you try this at home and improve on our method, do let me know!

Other Viscosity Investigation Ideas

Have a viscosity race, using different liquids travelling down a flat board.

Try the same race but large scale in the garden!

Try timing a marble dropping through different liquids.

Test Tubes kindly provided by Learning Resources.

Last Updated on October 19, 2023 by Emma Vanstone