Overview:
See color inM&M’s magically split up into different colors

Equipment:
1. Coffee filter paper or paper towel
2. Package of Smarties or M&M’s
3. Small cup of water
4. Plate

Safety:
Keep the experiment on the plate until it dries or you might stain the table cloth

How to do the experiment:
1. Cut the paper towel into circles about 6 inches across.
2. Place the plate on a flat surface and the paper on the plate.
3. Place a Smartie in the center of the paper.
4. Dip your finger into the water and hold it above the M&M allowing a little water to rip onto the sweet.
5. Repeat fairly slowly until the candy is quite wet and the circle of water on the blotting paper is about 2 inches across.
6. Leave.
7. In a little while, you should be able to see rings of color around the M&Ms

You may now eat the M&Ms. 

Explanation:
The color in the sugar coating of the M&M shell dissolves in the water. The water is drawn out through the paper by capillary action and moves in a growing circle. The different inks which make up the smartie color move at different speeds and so they are separated.

At the ‘molecular level’ smaller hydrophilic molecules migrate faster through the paper. Hydrophilic means a “water-loving” substance, as opposed to hydrophobic compounds which are not soluble in water.

Cooking oil is an example of a hydrophic substance. The colors that migrate the furthest from the candy have less of a mass than the ones closest to the candy.

Note that once the shell is wet, the Smartie is not so crispy!

Further comments:
Repeat with different colors – which color Smarties are made of the most different inks?

I think M&M’s work quite well, and you can also make a felt tip blob in the middle of the paper and look at felt tip inks. However, felt tips cannot be eaten afterward.

---

New Experiments Added Every Week – check back often