Kids love to draw. Birds, animals, flowers and trees come alive in their imagination when they sit down with their coloring pens and pencils. What if we can really make those drawings come alive? No magic here, just a simple science experiment which will amaze your kids. The pretty pictures that they draw will float in water! Let us see how to carry on this simple dry erase marker science experiment.
What we need
Dry erase marker (Whiteboard marker)
Shallow glass or ceramic tray
Water
Procedure
- Draw a figure on the tray using the marker pen. Let it be a stick-man, flower, heart, or any drawing of your kid’s choice.
- Wait for a few seconds. Let the ink become dry and the drawing become well-formed.
- Now slowly pour water into the tray and observe what happens.
- You will see the figures detaching themselves from the bottom of the tray and floating in the water. There you go! You have made the drawings come alive!
Tip: If the drawing does not easily come off the bottom, shake the tray slightly. This movement will detach the drawing from the surface.
Explanation
Now comes the most interesting part of this dry erase marker science experiment, decoding the reasons for the floating figures. Why do the figures made of whiteboard or dry erase marker inks float? Whiteboard marker ink is made of oily silicone polymers which makes the ink slippery and prevents it from sticking to a smooth surface. This is why we can easily erase it from white boards. Of course, it cannot be easily rubbed off from materials such as clothes, as they do not have a smooth surface.
Due to the presence of oily silicone polymers, marker drawings do not stick to the bottom of the tray. When we pour water into the tray, there is a strong buoyancy force created in the ink, which overpowers the slight stickiness that it may have. Therefore the ink figure detaches itself from the surface.
This ink has another property, it is not soluble in water. So when we pour water over the marker figure, it does not dissolve. Marker ink is less dense than water, and so it keeps floating. As a result, we pour water over the figures, and they float as beautiful hearts, or flowers. Simple, yet amazing!
Will this work with a permanent marker?
What will happen if we use a permanent marker in place of a whiteboard marker? The word ‘permanent’ should give you the clue. Permanent markers are made of acrylic polymers which make the ink attach to a surface. So if we use a permanent marker, the drawing will still remain intact, but it won’t float. The marker figure will remain stuck to the bottom of the tray.
Would you like to read more about interesting and do-at-home experiments? Head to our Experiments section.
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