Skittle Pattern
COLOURFUL SKITTLES EXPERIMENT
WHAT YOU NEED:
A plate or container (preferably white)
Skittles (other coated sweets work too)
Water
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place your skittles on to the plate, try to alternate the colours.
Carefully pour water into the container, if the skittles move, just push them back into place quickly.
Watch what happens...
WHY DO THE COLOURS SPREAD?
Skittles are coated in food colouring and sugar. When you pour water over the skittles the coloured coating dissolves spreading through the water.
The colour and sugar dissolve into the water and then diffuse through the water, making it the colour of the skittle.
EXTENSION IDEAS:
- Can you time how long the colours take to reach the centre of the plate using cold and warm water? Which do you think will be faster?
- Try using other sweets, can you find any that work as well as skittles?
- Try white vinegar or even lemonade, do these work better than water?
- Can you make a repeated pattern? Describe your pattern.
QUESTIONS TO ASK AND THINK ABOUT
Why do you think the colours don’t mix?
Can you spot the ‘S’ from the skittles? What happens to it?
How could you speed up the reaction?
Your findings
