Walking Rainbow

Ingredients

• 6 cups or jars

• 6 pieces of paper towel

• 3 cups of water

• Red, yellow and blue food dye

Instructions

1. place the six cups in a circle so they are touching

2. Fill every second cup (3 cups in total) with water to the brim

3. Add 3 drops of food dye to the water, yellow in one, blue in another and red in the last

4. Fold a piece of paper towel in half and place it so one end is in one of the cups of water and the other end is in the empty cup beside it

5. Repeat this until all of the cups have paper towel in them

6. Wait about half an hour and enjoy!

What's Happening?

Paper towels are made of a sugar compound called cellulose. Cellulose can resist gravity and pull water upwards through a process called capillary action, when the two cups on either side do this they meet in the middle. By choosing primary colours we have allowed them to make a new colour in the middle when they meet.