Funtastik Labs
Katy
615 S Mason Rd
Katy, TX 77450
Katy, TX 77450
Color science at home
Make a rainbow move across the plate.
With a plate, warm water, and colorful candy, you can watch color spread, meet in the middle, and form surprising patterns.
What you need.
This experiment takes only a few supplies and works best on a level surface where the plate will not be bumped.
- Colorful Skittles
- A shallow white plate or dish
- Lukewarm water
- An adult to supervise
Set it up in four simple steps.
Once the water is added, leave the plate still and watch closely.
Arrange the candy
Place the Skittles in a ring around the outside edge of the plate.
Add the water
Slowly pour in enough lukewarm water to touch the bottom of each candy.
Watch the colors move
Keep the plate still as the colored sugar begins moving toward the center.
Compare the pattern
Notice where the colors meet, how long the pattern lasts, and what changes first.
Why do the colors move?
The warm water dissolves the sugar and food coloring on the candy shells. Those dissolved particles spread through the water from crowded areas toward less crowded areas—a process called diffusion.
Try another version
- Repeat it with cold water and compare the speed.
- Arrange the colors in a repeating pattern.
- Try a different plate shape and compare the result.
Want more reactions, tools, and surprising results?
Guests in the Science Lab do three guided experiments using safe science equipment.