Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My daughter did her science project using white roses and color but she used different items in the water and food coloring to see what would happen.
1. water oil and food coloring
2.vinegar food coloring water
3. water and food coloring
4. sugar and food coloring

The one with oil changed colors quickly why?
The one with sugar had spots, why?
the one with vinegar died? why?

T

Hi,

Welcome to science buddies! This is a very good project to illustrate the principle of capillary action in plants, which is the transport of molecules up the stem of a plant. This is the process a plant uses to deliver water and nutrients from the roots to the top of the plant. Your daughter should include a description of capillary action in the background section on her board. Here is a science buddies website that explains the principle of capillary action:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p033.shtml

In your daughter’s experiment, the results of oil/water combination showed that this solution has the highest surface tension, so the dye was able to move quickly. The results in the spotted rose indicate that the stem of the plant was partially clogged for some reason. (Was the sugar completely dissolved before the start of the experiment, or were there any particles in the sugar?) You might want to repeat the experiment to see if the spotted results are reproducible.

Vinegar is an acid, with a low pH. Acids are toxic to plant cells and vinegar is traditionally used as a preservative to prevent the growth of microorganisms on foods. The hydrogen ions in the vinegar were absorbed by the plant cells, but immediately damaged the cells so they could not function.


Donna Hardy