Milk And Food Colouring Explosion!

In science we put  milk and different coloured food coloring in a bowl and put a drop of dish soap in the milk and the colours went into the sides of the bowl. At some point we all have done this or seen it on youtube. But how does it work? Milk is mostly water, but it also contains vitamins, minerals, proteins, and tiny drops of fat floating in solution. Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes in the milk. The secret of the bursting colors is in the chemistry of that tiny drop of dish soap. Like other oils, milk fat is a non-polar molecule and that means it doesn’t dissolve in water. When the dish soap is mixed in, however, the non-polar (hydrophobic) portion of micelles (molecular soap structures in solution) break up and collect the non-polar fat molecules. Then the polar surface of the micelle (hydrophilic) connects to a polar water molecule with the fat held inside the dish soap micelle. Thanks to the dish soap connection, the non-polar fat can then be carried by the polar water. This is when the fun begins. The molecules of fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions as the dish soap molecules race around to join up with the fat molecules. During all of this fat molecule gymnastics, the food coloring molecules are bumped and shoved everywhere, providing an easy way to observe all the invisible activity. As the dish soap becomes evenly mixed with the milk, the action slows down and eventually stops. This is why milk with a higher fat content produces a better explosion of colour. There’s just more fat to combine with all of those dish soap molecules. I enjoyed watching the colours drift away from the milk. It just looks so satisfying to watch. I found it easy to make the experiment. It is so cool that you can make a really cool experiment with things that you can find in the kitchen. I found it hard to try not to make the milk and food colouring mix. When it mixed it only made a small circle of white instead of the whole bowl.

If you would like to make this on your own you will only need a few things.

Milk (Full fat is best)

Food colouring (Different colours for the best results

Any kind of liquid soap will do (Dish soap, Hand soap)