Examine what makes up some colours in coloured markers.
What you need:
- a tall glass, about one-third full with water
- paper towel or coffee filter paper
- different coloured textas or markers (non-permanent)
What to do:
- Get a long strip of paper towel.
- Put several dots of different coloured markers in a row about half way up the paper towel.
- Bend the edge of the paper towel over and place it in the glass so that the bottom is in the water. Use the bend edge to secure the paper. Make sure the dots are NOT in the water.
- Wait and watch as the paper towel absorbs the water.
What happens:
The water will be absorbed up the paper towel. Once the water level reaches the marker, the marker will also move up the towel, because non-permanent markers are made from ink and water. As the water moves up the paper, it will start to carry the ink from the marker. For some colours, multiple colours will appear. For example, in the video above, you can see red/pink and blue come from the purple dot, whereas only blue can be seen from the blue dot and green can be seen from the green dot. Try some other colours that might have multiple shades, eg. black or brown.
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