Dancing Milk

Magic Milk Animation – Colors in Motion!

Want to create a burst of colors right on a plate? With just a little milk, food coloring, and a drop of dish soap, you can make a mesmerizing, colorful animation that moves as if by magic. This experiment is simple to set up and a fun way to learn about the chemistry behind soap and fat.

Materials You’ll Need

• Plate (1 per experiment)

• Milk – enough to cover the bottom of the plate

• Food coloring – a few drops of different colors

• Liquid dish soap – a few drops

• Cotton swab (optional, for applying the soap)

Step-by-Step Tutorial

1. Pour Milk into the Plate: Pour enough milk onto a plate to just cover the bottom.

2. Add Food Coloring: Place a few drops of different colors of food coloring in the center of the milk. Space the colors around for the best effect.

3. Touch the Milk with Dish Soap: Dip a cotton swab or your finger into a little dish soap, then touch it to the center of the milk. Watch as the colors burst outward and swirl in beautiful patterns!

   
   

The Science Behind It

This colorful reaction is all thanks to the interaction between the fat in milk and the dish soap:

1. Soap Breaks Up Fat Molecules: Milk contains fat molecules, and dish soap is specially designed to break down fat. They have a hydrophilic part that attracts water and a hydrophobic part that doesn't like water, but will attach to other things like fat and protein. This is why you use detergent for clothes-- the dirt in the clothes stick to the detergent so it can be washed away. When you touch the detergent to the milk, the detergent connects to the fat and protein, but pushes away the water. Since the food coloring attaches to the water, the food coloring gets pushed too, demonstrating the milk's movement.

2. Colors in Motion: Since the food coloring attaches to the water, the food coloring gets pushed too, demonstrating the milk's movement. This creates a beautiful, moving “animation” as the colors spread and interact.

   
   

This experiment is a fun, visual way to learn about how soap works on a molecular level. Try using different types of milk (whole milk, 2%, or skim) to see if the fat content changes the effect, or experiment with different food coloring patterns to make unique designs!