Pocket Science: Water Droplet Race
Experimenting with surface tension by gently placing water droplets on a coaster or laminated menu and observing how they move and merge.
- Takes
- 15–20 min
- Your setup
- 1 min prep
- Ages
- Ages 9–16
- Mess
- No mess
- Cost
- Free
- Where
- Indoors
How to do it
- 1Use a spoon or straw to transfer tiny drops of water onto a flat, non-absorbent surface (like a coaster or a laminated menu).
- 2Challenge players to gently nudge the droplets (using a toothpick or careful tilting) to make them race or merge.
- 3Observe what happens when drops of different sizes collide.
- 4Discuss the concept of surface tension and how the water molecules stick together.
What they're practising
- Scientific Observation
- Hypothesis Testing
- Physics Concepts (Cohesion)
- Focus