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Kitchen Chemistry: Dense Liquids

What's the chemistry behind what we drink?

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Liquids are EVERYWHERE in kitchens!

Water, milk, juice, cooking oil, even washing up detergent – they’re all liquids. Now you might be able to tell them apart just by the way they look, but there’s another cool way to tell they’re different – and that’s their density.

Everything is made up of tiny pieces that are too small for us to see. These pieces can be packed together very loosely or more tightly – and the more tightly packed the pieces are, the more dense something is.

This is something you can see for yourself! With an adult’s help, try putting vegetable oil, water and washing up liquid in a glass. They will separate into layers with the most dense sinking to the bottom.

Remember – this is a chemistry experiment not a recipe – so don’t take a sip! Yuck!

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Kitchen Chemistry

Find out all about the chemistry of the kitchen

More From Kitchen Chemistry