rainbow rain experiment with oil

Colorful rain in a glass

How to make colorful rain using oil and food colorings

Is it pos­si­ble to see rain in­doors? How about a vi­brant­ly col­or­ful down­pour? Here’s a sim­ple way to or­ches­trate a storm of col­ors even on the sun­ni­est day.

Safe­ty pre­cau­tions

• Con­duct this ex­per­i­ment only un­der adult su­per­vi­sion.
• Cau­tion, col­orants may leave marks on the skin and sur­faces.

Reagents and equip­ment

• 150mL veg­etable oil;
• liq­uid food col­or­ings;
• glass con­tain­er;
• 500mL wa­ter;
• wood­en stick.

Step-by-step in­struc­tions

Pour the veg­etable oil into a glass and add some food col­or­ing. Stir vig­or­ous­ly with a wood­en stick. Then pour the oil and dyes in a glass con­tain­er filled with wa­ter. Give it some time…

Process de­scrip­tion

Since liq­uid food col­or­ings are aque­ous so­lu­tions, the col­ored droplets pass freely through the oil lay­er. But why ex­act­ly does this hap­pen? The molec­u­lar prop­er­ties of oil and wa­ter pre­vent them from mix­ing. Wa­ter con­sists of po­lar­ized mol­e­cules, i.e. each of its mol­e­cules has a pos­i­tive charge on one side and a neg­a­tive charge on the oth­er. As op­po­sites at­tract, the wa­ter mol­e­cules are at­tract­ed to each oth­er. The oil mol­e­cules are non­po­lar, so they don’t at­tract wa­ter mol­e­cules and there­fore don’t mix with them. When stirred, the large drops of food col­or­ing break up into small­er drops and “freeze” in the oil, form­ing an emul­sion. Food col­or­ing is denser than veg­etable oil , so when the emul­sion is in­tro­duced to a body of wa­ter, the drops grad­u­al­ly trick­le down to the oil-wa­ter bor­der. When the drops reach the wa­ter, the col­or­ful storm be­gins.

Dozens of experiments you can do at home

One of the most exciting and ambitious home-chemistry educational projects The Royal Society of Chemistry

THE S T E M PLAYROOM

BUILD • INVENT • CREATE • EXPLORE 

Rainbow rain 🌈🌧️.

The rainbow rain experiment is a fun and educational activity that kids can do to learn about the science of weather and how rainbows are formed. In this experiment, kids will create their own mini rainstorm and watch as a rainbow appears. In this blog, we will provide an overview of the rainbow rain experiment and how to do it.

Food Coloring

Cup/Bottle/Mason Jar

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill the container about half way with oil.

Then add food coloring drops to the oil. The more colors the better!

Mix the oil and food coloring drops very well. (Until you get a very dark mixture)

In a clean container add water.

Then pour oil mixture into the water container.

Wait and observe the magic!

QUESTIONS TO ASK

What are you seeing?

Why are the food coloring drops sinking?

Which has more density water or oil?

What if we change the liquid to juice? or water with sugar?

The rainbow rain experiment provides several benefits for kids, including:

Encouraging scientific exploration and experimentation.

Developing observation and critical thinking skills.

Teaching kids about the science of weather and how rainbows are formed.

Providing a fun and engaging activity that can be done indoors on a rainy day.

The rainbow rain experiment is a simple yet educational activity that kids can do to learn about the science of rainbows and weather. By pouring water out of a glass or jar and observing the rainbow that appears, kids can develop their scientific knowledge and skills while having fun at the same time.

Adult supervision required for any of these activities. Please supervise and make sure children participating are safe. Read instructions and the safety labels from each material.

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