GRAND RAPIDS — Have you ever wanted to make your drawings come to life?? Are you ready for a scientific magic trick?! This week’s weather experiment we will make some drawings float away in the blink of an eye.
What you need:
- Plate
- Dry erase markers
- Warm water
Step 1: take your plate and draw a drawing with your dry erase markers
Step 2: let it completely dry
Step 3: slowly pour a bit of room temperature water over your drawing
Step 4: wait to see what happens and help your drawing along by gently wiggling your plate.
This is all happening because of the chemistry in the dry erase markers. It’s the special ingredients in these markers that include whats called a solvent which is typically some kind of alcohol and a polymer which to what makes the ink erasable. The polymer ingredient prevents our drawings from sticking to the plate allowing the water to slide underneath it and since the drawing is lighter or less dense than the water it’s strong buoyancy force overcomes any stickiness and our drawing floats away!