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Catch A Rainbow

Red, blue and yellow are called the primary colors. Just by mixing these colors, you can get all the colors of the rainbow:

RED + YELLOW = ORANGE

RED + BLUE = PURPLE

BLUE + YELLOW = GREEN

What you need:

red, blue and yellow food color
1 cup milk
dish soap
shallow bowl
Optional: Catch a Rainbow Printable Activity Sheet
Optional: The Color Wheel

Directions:

Pour 1 cup of milk into the bowl
Add 3 drops of red food color to one edge of the bowl
- 1/3 of the way away, add 3 drops of blue food color
- 1/3 of the way away add 3 drops of yellow
- don't mix or jiggle the bowl
Squeeze a drop of dish soap in the center of the bowl
Record what you see.
What do you think happened?

What Happened:

The dish soap does not mix with the milk. Instead it floats on top and spreads over the surface. As it spreads, it grabs the food color we dropped into it. Where the colors meet, they combine to form new colors:

RED + YELLOW = ORANGE

RED + BLUE = PURPLE

BLUE + YELLOW = GREEN

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