You know candy is colored with artificial dye. But did you know that many candies contain several kinds of dye? To see the different dyes for yourself, try this.
 M&M chromatography. Brown has separated into the most colors (right).
What you need:
- A rectangle of coffee filter paper
- Dyed candy such as M&Ms, Skittles, or Reese's Pieces
- A glass filled with a half-inch of
water
- A pencil
What to do:
- Place drops of water on a flat surface, such as a plate, a cookie sheet, or tinfoil.
- Place candy on water and let
color dissolve.
- Crease the coffee filter paper vertically (to help it stand up).
- Dab or paint a drop of candy-colored
water onto the paper, an inch from the bottom. Label your sample with pencil.
- Stand the paper up in the water, with the water level below the color splotch.
- Watch the water seep up to the top
edge of the paper.
What's happening:
When water seeps
up the filter paper, it separates the different colors so you can see them. M&M brown works especially well--the four different dyes separate out into a rainbow.
You can try this experiment with anything
that contains dye, including juice, markers, or ballpoint pen (that’s why it’s
better to mark your labels with pencil).
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