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Rainbow In A Jar Science Experiment

February 25, 2018

I love incorporating easy science experiments into the classroom as often as I can. I thought this rainbow in a jar science experiment was perfect for March.

Rainbow In A Jar Science Experiment

To make this rainbow in a jar, the students are exploring density by layering sugar water to make a rainbow.

The materials are all things you most likely already have on hand.

Materials

Approx. 2 cups of warm tap water

1/2 cup measuring cup

1 Tablespoon measuring spoon

4 small jars of glasses

Approx. 1 1/2 cups of granulated white sugar

Red, blue, yellow and green food coloring

Tall thin glass or test tube. I used an old Starbucks bottle

Straw

4 popsicle sticks

Microwave

Rainbow In A Jar materials

Experiment steps

Step 1: Measure a 1/2 cup of warm tap water into the 4 jars.

Step 2: Add 2 drops of food coloring to each of the 4 jars.

Rainbow In A Jar steps

Step 3: To the jar of red water, add 2 tablespoons of sugar. To the jar of yellow, add 4 tablespoons of sugar. To the jar of green water, add 6 tablespoons of sugar. To the jar of blue water, add 8 tablespoons of sugar.

Rainbow In A Jar steps

Step 4: Stir each of the jars to dissolve the sugar. If your water is not warm enough to dissolve the sugar, put the jar in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until the sugar is dissolved.

Rainbow In A Jar steps

The students can already see at this point that by dissolving increasing amounts of sugar, you’re increasing the density of the sugar water solutions. They can easily see that the jars all started the same and now the blue looks a lot fuller than the red.

Step 5: Pour about an inch of the blue water into the bottom of your glass or test tube.

Step 6: Use your straw to gently drip the green water on top of the blue layer. It works best to place the straw to the side of the glass just above the blue layer. You want to add the layers to the glass slowly and carefully, otherwise they’ll mix together resulting in a muddled rainbow.

Rainbow In a Jar Steps

Step 7: Add the yellow layer next using the same method and last the red layer. Stand back and admire your beautiful rainbow!

Rainbow In a Jar Science Experiment

I hope your students love making the rainbow and learning about density in a fun way!

See you next time!

Jenette

Rainbow In A Jar Science Experiment

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Filed Under: March, Science 20 Comments

Comments

  1. Britney says

    July 15, 2019 at 2:35 am

    I cannot find regular food coloring any where! Can gel food coloring be used??

    Reply
    • admin says

      July 16, 2019 at 1:56 pm

      I’ve never used gel food coloring, but if you can get it to mix with the water it would work just fine. Basically, you are just coloring the water in order to be able to see the layers.

      Reply
  2. Rebecca @ STEM Guide says

    November 9, 2019 at 5:05 pm

    What a pretty density experiment!!

    Reply
  3. Ruchi says

    April 1, 2020 at 7:34 am

    I didnt get layers..All the colours got mixed..what could have gone wrong?

    Reply
    • admin says

      April 1, 2020 at 2:50 pm

      Hi there. If you didn’t get layers, the sugar measurements may have been off. Also, the layers/colors need to be added VERY slowly otherwise it will all just become mixed. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  4. Cath says

    April 2, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    Hi there!

    Would brown sugar work just as well?

    Reply
    • admin says

      April 3, 2020 at 1:48 pm

      My guess would be no since brown sugar contains molasses and would be a different density. But it is a science experiment, so it wouldn’t hurt to try it and see what would happen.

      Reply
  5. Kayla says

    April 9, 2020 at 2:55 pm

    So fun! It looks awesome! Takes some time to do though but worth it! Kids thought it was cool but I think I had more fun then they did 😁

    Reply
  6. Ana P says

    May 28, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    This was extremely fun. First we did not think it was working but then we put a light from behind and seen the wonderful masterpiece. We tried using a straw and it was a bit hard then we found some droppers and it was a whole lot easier. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Artisha says

      February 26, 2021 at 8:53 pm

      I was wondering about the straw and exactly how that would work. With the droppers, did you have to add the drops really slowly and one at a time? Or could you just squeeze it? Asking, because I want to try this with my two and threes. Some will be able to listen and add slowly l, but some may want to squeeze as hard as they can

      Reply
      • admin says

        February 26, 2021 at 9:41 pm

        Hi there. If you’re using a straw, you would plug the top end with your thumb and slowly let the liquid run out of it down the side of the inside of the jar. Same for the dropper. You don’t want to just “drop” the liquid in as it will then mix and you won’t get the density layers. You will just end up with a purple, brown mix. It may work for some of your twos and threes, but it may just be too much for some of them. Maybe an alternative is they watch you do it and then they could play with their own droppers in other colored water and make art on paper.

        Reply

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