Capillary Action

Experiment

Breanna Onori
Problem/Question
How do the water
molecules move up the
paper towel and into the
empty glass?
 I believe that the water molecules will act as a
bridge for each other and slowly move up the paper
Hypothesis towel, and once they reach the empty glass, the
colors will begin to drip into the glass and mix,
being that the water came from two different glasses
at the start with the empty glass in between.
 • Food Coloring (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue)
• Glass/Clear Cups (7)
Materials • Paper Towels
• Water
Procedure
Fill • Fill cups 1, 3, 5, and 7 barely to the top

Line up • Line up the cups so that in between a set of water cups, there is an empty one

Fold • Fold paper towels “hotdog” style

Cup 1 • In Cup 1, drip 6-7 drops of red food coloring

Cup 3 • In Cup 3, drip 6-7 drops of yellow food coloring

Cup 5 • In Cup 5, drip 6-7 drops of blue food coloring

Cup 7 • In Cup 7, drip 6-7 drops of green food coloring

Place • Place a paper towel from each cup of water to the empty one next to it
 Food Coloring Red Yellow Blue Green

Pink Green Turquoise

Colors created when Mixed

Results/
Data
Conclusion:
My experiment lined up with my hypothesis, but I had to
do some extra research to answer to experiment
question/problem. Like I mentioned in my hypothesis, the
water molecules act as bridge, or a drawstring, to pull each
other up the paper towel. The reason it can do this is
because the paper towel has small holes, which allow 3
types of forces (adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension)
to work together. These water molecules are cohesive to
each other and adhesive to the paper towel, which is why
they can pull each other UP the paper towel and drip into
the empty cup.