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    Home » Primary Science » Key Stage 1 Science » Large scale viscosity Experiment for Kids

    Large scale viscosity Experiment for Kids

    May 5, 2021 By Emma Vanstone 8 Comments

    This viscosity experiment is a fun way to discover how different liquids flow. Or just to have a race with ketchup and other kitchen ingredients!

    The rate at which different fluids flow can vary considerably, this is called resistance to flowing viscosity.

    We did this on a big board in the garden, but it works just as well on a much smaller scale. Chopping boards are perfect to act as a ramp.

    Racing Liquids experiment instructions. A fun activity for learning about viscosity of liquids.
    Racing Liquids instructions

    Viscosity Experiment for Kids

    What you need

    • Ramp – chopping board or paper covering something else.
    • Stopwatch
    • Liquids to test, today we used oil, water, corn syrup, passata, treacle and ice cream sauce
    • Containers for the liquids, we used old yoghurt drink bottles
    ice cream syrup, oil, passata as ingredients for a viscosity experiment for kids

    We thought carefully about the best way to time the different liquids. Initially we thought we would let them all run down the ramp at the same time and see which reached the bottom first, but decided it would be too hard to release them all at the same time and difficult to time. So, we drew two lines on the ramp and recorded the time taken for each liquid to pass between the lines.

    child pouring a container of oil down a ramp for a viscosity experiment
    results table for a viscosity experiment. Syrup is the slowest and water the fastest

    Viscosity Experiment Instructions

    • Pour the liquids down the ramp one at a time.
    • Start the timer as the liquid passes over the first line and stop when it passes the second.
    • Repeat for all liquids.
    Board covered with a sheet of paper with different liquids running down it. Great experiment for learning about the viscosity of different liquids.

    Make your own ramp

    If you’re doing this in a school or with lots of children a wipe clean ramp is a good idea. I made this one for a school science fair by covering a big sheet of cardboard with contact paper ( sticky back plastic ).

    homemade viscosity ramp made from cardboard covered in contact paper.

    Let’s make it a fair test!

    The same volume of liquid should be used for each substance, we used 50ml.

    Only start the timer once the liquid has passed the first line.

    If the ramp falls over mid experiment, make sure it has the same gradient as before to keep the test fair.

    To be more accurate you could repeat for each liquid 3 times and find the mean of the times.

    More Easy Science for Kids

    There’s a similar activity in Snackable Science where we race different ketchups to investigate whether different brands flow at different speeds.

    children testing the viscosity of different ketchups by pouring a small sample down a whiteboard ramp

    If you enjoyed this experiment we’ve got lots more easy outdoor science experiments and investigations you might like and some great kitchen science experiments too!

    Fun viscosity investigation for kids. Race liquids down a ramp to discover which flow the fastest. Easy kitchen science experiment for kids #scienceforkids #ktichenscience

    Affiliate links

    Last Updated on March 31, 2022 by Emma Vanstone

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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Natalie

      July 04, 2013 at 1:03 am

      Visiting from Afterschool – this is a great experiment, and I like how you applied scientific method of measurement to it. I bet you also did predictions in the beginning.

      Reply
    2. becky

      July 05, 2013 at 6:08 am

      What a cool idea…definitely one for summer hols!

      Reply
    3. Deceptively Educational

      July 08, 2013 at 2:24 am

      My son would LOVE this … oh, who am I kidding?!? I want to try this too!! Thanks for linking up to the After School Linky Party. I’m featuring this tomorrow. Stop by to check it out and share more of our amazing ideas/activities while you’re there!

      Reply
    4. Rohit

      September 29, 2015 at 3:48 am

      Cool experiment. Easy way to understand with experiment 🙂

      Reply
    5. Rohit

      October 25, 2015 at 10:23 am

      Inspired by you, i posted a topic related to Viscosity 🙂 do check it on my blog. Not posting link because don’t want to get in spam.

      Reply
      • Katie

        March 30, 2017 at 5:59 pm

        How is this inspiring you? This is so dum

        Reply
      • Katie

        March 30, 2017 at 5:59 pm

        How is this inspiring you? This is so dum. How do unto the dum message

        Reply
    6. Katie

      March 30, 2017 at 5:57 pm

      Thanks, it wasn’t much help but, I used it any way

      Reply

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