A THREE LAYER FLOAT

❖ What is a three layer float ?

Have you ever wondered why wood floats and
rocks sink? The answer is density. Density is
simply the measurement of how solid an object
is. This experiment will show the different density
of three substances and four objects.
❖ What do we need to make a three layer float ?
1. Glass 6. Water
2. Sponge 7. Syrup
3. Plastic bottle cap 8. Oil
4. Grape 9. Food
5. Metal coloring
❖ How do we make a three layer float ?
1. Tips: pour each layer slowly, because mixing can make it more difficult to see the intended
result. Start with the densest liquid, then add liquids with lower densities. Tilt the cup and
pour onto the side of the cup to cause the least disturbance to the liquids.
2. Prepare water that is mixed with a few drops of food coloring.
3. Fill 1/3 of the glass with syrup. Fill the next third with water. Fill the next third with oil.
4. Leave it to settle for about 15 minutes, and see what happens.
The three different liquids are separated into three different layers (syrup, water, and oil).
Because they have different densities, they don’t mix together.
- The syrup has the highest density, so it stays on the bottom.
- The oil has the lowest density, so it rises to the top.
5. Try to drop four different objects into the glass. First, try to drop a metal. Second, drop a
grape. Third, drop a plastic bottle cap. Fourth, drop a sponge.
6. See what happens with those objects. You can see that they sink in different layers in the
glass.
- A metal is really dense, so it sinks right to the bottom on the syrup.
- A grape sinks through the oil in water, but stays on the syrup. It is because the syrup is
denser than a grape.
- A plastic bottle cap slowly sinks through the oil and stays on the water.
- A sponge has the lowest density among the four objects, so it stays on the top of the oil.
7. So, you can try to drop different objects into the glass to see which liquids are denser.
❖ What can we learn from a three layer float ?
A three layer float is an interesting experiment in which the students will be able to see how
different liquids settle based on their densities as well as how objects settle based on their
densities. First step is to place water, oil and syrup into a clear container and wait for them to
settle. The three liquids will settle based on their densities and will make three separate layers.
Next add in a metal, grape, a plastic bottle cap then watch how they float in the different
layers based on their densities. The students will be able to see that the objects with a heavier
density sink to the bottom and the objects with a lighter density will stay at the top.
 ELEPHANT’S TOOTHPASTE

❖ What is elephant’s toothpaste ?

This demonstration is called Elephant’s Toothpaste because the chemical reaction produces a
large foamy mess that looks like toothpaste coming out of a tube. It is so big that only an
elephant could use toothpaste this large.
❖ What do we need to make elephant’s toothpaste ?
1. Beaker glass 4. Yeast 7. Bleaching agent
2. Measuring cup 5. Food coloring
3. Spatula 6. Liquid detergent
❖ How do we make elephant’s toothpaste ?
1. Note: the foam could overflow from the bottle, so be sure to do this experiment on a
washable surface, or place the bottle on a tray.
2. Pour the yeast as much as you need into a beaker glass fulfilled with water, then stir until it
mix together. Leave it for about 5 minutes.
3. Pour 10 mL of a bleaching agent into 1 liter measuring cup.
4. Add 15 - 20 mL of liquid detergent and stir well. Make sure the solution is well mixed.
5. Add 3 drops of food coloring on the side of measuring cup. Its purpose is to make better
effect when the reaction happens. You can make your own pattern when adding food
coloring into this solution.
6. Add the yeast into the solution to bring out a chemical reaction, wait until the reaction
happens, then a large foam will come out from the measuring cup.
7. Watch the foaminess begin and enjoy the show.
8. All done. Clean up the waste using lots of water.
❖ What can we learn from elephant’s toothpaste ?
The yeast acted as a catalyst; a catalyst is used to speed up a reaction. It quickly broke apart
the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide. Because it did this very fast, it created lots and lots of
bubbles. Did you notice the bottle got warm ?
Your experiment created a reaction called an Exothermic Reaction – that means it not only
created foam, it created heat! The foam produced is just water, soap or liquid detergent, and
oxygen so you can clean it up with a sponge and pour any extra liquid left in the bottle down
the drain.