Hooked on science: Disappearing color

Materials

* Two transparent drinking glasses

* Water

* Red food coloring

* Bleach

Instructions

STEP 1: Fill each transparent drinking glass half the way with water.

STEP 2: Mix two drops of the red food coloring into each drinking glass.

STEP 3: Mix three tablespoons of bleach into one of the drinking glasses.

Explanation

The bleach reacts with the chromophores in the food coloring molecules. The chromophore is the part of the molecule that causes an object to have color. The bleach shortens the length of the chromophores in the molecules. When this happens, the molecules absorb light and the color disappears.

Jason Lindsey is a Science Outreach Educator with Hooked on Science. Check out his website Hooked On Science at hooked onscience.org for webcasts and experiments that might get you hooked on science. Send him your science questions at jlindsey@hookedonscience.org. More science experiments can be found at www.semissourian.com.