By Emily Redekop and Jessica Toone

  Problem

Which kind of liquids make the strongest rainbow?

§ Liquid soap and water

§ Olive oil

§ Water

§ Water with  blue food coloring

§ Orange juice and water

 

 Hypotheses

We thought that the liquid soap with water would make the  strongest

rainbow. Because it is the shiniest liquid.

We thought that the orange juice would not make a rainbow because

you cannot see through it.

    1. Filled 6 glasses with:

A. Orange juice with water

B. Water

C. Water with blue food coloring

D. Olive oil

E. Water with the liquid soap

  2. Put one of the 6 glasses on a small table so that an end (about 1cm)

of the

  glass overhangs the edge of the table.

  3. Put something white (like a towel or pieces of paper) on the floor

at the bottom of the table.

  4. Turn off the lights in the room so that the room becomes very dark and

 close the curtains if there are any.

  5. Turn your flashlight towards the glass at an angle of about 42°. Adjust

the  flashlight till you can see a rainbow on the white material.

  6. Observe the white material (paper or towel) on the floor.

  7. Do the same experiment again with all the different liquids.

Materials

§ 1 flashlight

§ Liquid soap

§ Water

§ Olive oil

§ Blue food coloring

§ Orange juice

 

Observations

   The orange juice did not make a rainbow. The liquid soap with water

makes an only green rainbow and not very  strong, and it was in the shape

of a line.  Water with blue food colouring made  a green-blue rainbow in the

shape of an triangle. Water made a weak rainbow in  the shape of an arc. The

 olive oil made all the colours of the rainbow yellow tinted.There was a large

yellow line in the middle of the rainbow and it was in the  shape of a line. 

 

      

Liquids	Shape	Colour
Water	-In the shape of an arc	-Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo and violet -All the colours were pale
Olive Oil	-In the shape of a line	-All the colours of a rainbow but each with a yellowish tint and a big line of yellow in the middle
Water and blue food colouring	-In the shape of two triangles connected together at the bottom	-Greenish blue
Water and orange juice	-NO RAINBOW	-NO RAINBOW
Water with liquid soap	-In the shape of a line	-Light green

 

 

Conclusion

Our experiment shows us that our assumption was incorrect and that olive oil was the liquid which made the strongest rainbow. The liquids which were mixed with water did not make a rainbow. So we thought that the mixture of liquids are not good to make a rainbow.