Capillarity is the depression or rise of any type of liquid through a small passageway. These narrow pathways may be fibers or tubes. Capillarity is not confined to a vertical path. One example is when water gets into the towel fibers. It does so no matter what the towel’s position is. The narrower the tube, the higher the water level goes.
What you need:
- Food coloring of different colors
- Celery with leaves
- Glasses of clear water
How to do it:
- Find a sunny area in your house. This is where the celery will drink in the sun. The area will help with the experiment significantly.
- Get the glasses of water and add some food coloring to each of them. You can arrange them into a rainbow pattern.
- Cut the celery stalks so that they do not tip over each glass when you put them in to each glass.
- Exercise your patience. Allow the celery stalks to sit in each glass of colored water all night. The process will be slow by the following day, you will see the effects. The leaves of the celery will have taken the colors of their water.
Analysis:
This science project is a great way to introduce capillary action to kids. This process enables the liquid to flow in narrow paths against and without the help of outside forces. In this case, gravity is the outside force.
Celery stalks have tiny vessels just like any other plant. These vessels transport nutrients and water from the roots to the leaves. In this science project, the colored water travels up the celery stalks. Kids can appreciate how plants take in water in this project. They can also understand how important capillary action is for a plant’s survival.