Milk Painting Experiment

Milk and food colouring is all you need to make these gorgeous scientific paintings.

Equipment

• 1 litre melk
• Food colouring
• A plate
• A teaspoon
• Water colour paper

Instructions

1. Prepare the different food colourings. If you’re using a gel-based food colouring you might want to mix it with water
2. Pour the milk into the water. The milk should cover the bottom but it doesn’t need to form a thick layer
3. Add a few drops of food colouring to the milk. Use the teaspoon to draw patterns and figures. Don’t use too much colour
4. Carefully place a water colour paper onto the milk and hang to dry

What happens?

Milk mainly consists of fat and water. The food colouring is hydrophilic, which means water-loving, and only mixes with the water. Fat, on the other hand, is hydrophobic, which means water-fearing. Therefore fat and water can’t mix, and consequently, the fat floats in between the water. You don’t need a lot of fat to see this, and the experiment works with all types of milk.