Indonesia
Fireworks on a Plate
Invite your friends to create this little experiment at home. They are definitely awesome. You can also discover the secret of science contained in milk and soap.
What you need:
Milk
Plate
Food coloring (red, yellow, green and blue)
Dishwashing liquid soap
Cotton bud
Let’s begin the experiment:
Pour enough milk into the plate. Cover all of the base of the plate.
Add a few drops of all four of the food coloring, yellow, blue, red and green, into the milk. Place dye close to each other right in the middle of the milk.
Use a clean cotton bud and then touch the tip in the middle of the milk. However, not to stir the milk. Watch what happens.
Dip the other end of a cotton swab into the liquid dishwashing soap. Place the tip of the soapy cotton bud to the milk and let stand for 10 to 15 seconds. Notice what happens. A variety of color mixes and bursts. There are fireworks on the plate!
Now try again with a new cotton bud, dip it in dishwashing liquid, then place it again into the other side of the milk. Notice the color changed following the cotton bud. What causes the color to stay on the move?
What Happens?
Milk is composed of mostly water, but also contain vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats. Fat and protein content is very sensitive to changes in the overall material content of milk.
Why there was an explosion of color on the plate? The answer is because the chemical content in the soap. The soap chemical has two characteristics, polar compounds in one end and non-polar at the other end (soluble in water and insoluble in water) weakens the chemical element binding protein and fat in the milk forming mixture. Soap forming compounds that are hydrophilic, or bound with water and be able to dissolve in water, and the hydrophobic or insoluble in water, touch the globule in the milk.
The molecules in milk fat turbulent and swirling in all directions when the soap molecules trying to enter and join into it. Meanwhile, molecules in food dye that also encourages mixed everywhere, causing all molecular activity that occurs easily visible to us. When the soap started to mix evenly in the milk, the molecular action slowed and finally stopped.
Try adding a drop of soap into the milk again and see if the turmoil still going on? If it is means there are fat molecules that have not found its “friend “. Add a few drops of soap again and witnessed the upheaval began to occur again.
Now do the experiment again with a wide range of milk. Sweetened condensed milk, skim milk, full cream, even water. Consider and compare what happens.
MAHARANI INDRI
PHOTO: MH
