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Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: From chocolate buttons to magic patterns

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Six chocolate smarties sit in a flat dish in a circular pattern
Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: From chocolate buttons to magic patterns

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  5–6, 7–8


Want to do a simple science experiment that works just like a magic trick?

Watch the Surfing Scientist to find out how.

He creates a pattern made up of regular shapes by dissolving coated chocolate buttons.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Some solids, for example sugar, dissolve in water. What do we mean by the word dissolve? What happens to the sugar molecules when a sugar cube is dropped into a glass of hot water? If you didn't stir the water, would the water at the top eventually become sweet as well?
  2. 2.Notice what happens to the coated chocolate buttons when placed in water. Observe what happens when the spreading colours meet. Name the shape formed around the central green button. Decide what's surprising about this experiment.
  3. 3.Why does the pattern formed by the dissolving colours surprise people? What did you expect would happen when the coloured edges met? The colour pattern has regular edges because currents caused by dense sugar solutions cancel each other. Why are solutions dense?
  4. 4.Watch the video again to observe how the experiment is carried out. Predict what pattern you would get if you used three, four and five chocolate buttons coated with different colours. Buy some and check to see if you were right.


Production Date: 2008


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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