Liquid Hourglass

Since it's almost time to turn our clocks back for Daylight Savings, it's fun to think about new and interesting ways to keep time. I'm sure you've heard of an hourglass, but did you know that you can make one out of liquids? We recently made this liquid hourglass using water and vegetable oil for a mesmerizing result. With just a few simple materials, you can create your own!

What You'll Need

print instructions we did this project

How We Did It

Quickly flip over the bottle of oil and screw the other cap onto the bottle of water. Flip your hourglass over again so that the oil is on the bottom, and the water is on top. Watch as the exchange of liquids mimics an hourglass!

Tip: Make sure you don't squeeze the bottles as you're turning them. It's easier than it seems!

What's going on:

In this experiment, you saw that the oil floats on top of the water. This is because the water is more dense than the oil. Density is a measure of how tightly packed a material is. When oil and water come together, the water will sink to the bottom, while the less dense oil floats to the top. Because the liquid has to pass through the holes in the lid, this happens drop-by-drop, creating your oil-and-water hourglass!

Original article and pictures take http://www.kiwicrate.com/projects/Liquid-Hourglass-/2702/?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=SOCIAL&utm_content=Tinker&utm_campaign=DIY&utm_term=Liquid%20Hourglass site