Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Cool 13-ply liquid tower!
Equipment: glass vase, honey, maltose syrup, caramel, maple syrup, glycerin, liquid soap, water, food coloring, linseed oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, ignition gel (paraffin-based), isopropyl alcohol, kerosene, spatula, retinol.
Tint some water with food coloring, and some kerosene with retinol. Using a wooden spatula, pour carefully into a vase in the following order: honey, molasses, caramel, maple syrup, glycerin, liquid soap, water, food coloring, linseed oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, ignition gel, isopropyl alcohol, kerosene. It’s a real tower of liquids! Try dropping different objects into the concoction and note where they “land.”
A substance’s density indicates how much mass is contained in a unit of volume. A less dense liquid will float above one that is denser. This makes it possible to arrange the layers from bottom to top in order of decreasing density. Some of the layers will diffuse together with time, but this happens rather slowly, so you’ll first be able to observe clear boundaries between the layers. If you drop an object into such a layered tower, it will come to rest at the first liquid with a density greater than or equal to the density of the material the object is made of.
Safety precautions: Warning! Only under adult supervision.
Cool 13-ply liquid tower!
Equipment: glass vase, honey, maltose syrup, caramel, maple syrup, glycerin, liquid soap, water, food coloring, linseed oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, ignition gel (paraffin-based), isopropyl alcohol, kerosene, spatula, retinol.
Tint some water with food coloring, and some kerosene with retinol. Using a wooden spatula, pour carefully into a vase in the following order: honey, molasses, caramel, maple syrup, glycerin, liquid soap, water, food coloring, linseed oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, ignition gel, isopropyl alcohol, kerosene. It’s a real tower of liquids! Try dropping different objects into the concoction and note where they “land.”
A substance’s density indicates how much mass is contained in a unit of volume. A less dense liquid will float above one that is denser. This makes it possible to arrange the layers from bottom to top in order of decreasing density. Some of the layers will diffuse together with time, but this happens rather slowly, so you’ll first be able to observe clear boundaries between the layers. If you drop an object into such a layered tower, it will come to rest at the first liquid with a density greater than or equal to the density of the material the object is made of.
Safety precautions: Warning! Only under adult supervision.
