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Watering Down a Colour

The same amount of blue dye is spread through more and more water as you move along the rack. Because the dye is stretched over a larger volume, each tube looks paler than the one before it.

In the picture

  1. The deep ink-blue tube at the left end of the rack
  2. The pipette with a droplet at its tip
  3. The clear, almost colourless tube at the right end of the rack
  4. The graduated cylinder of water with millilitre marks

Examples

  • Adding water to fruit cordial until it turns from dark red to light pink
  • Topping up strong black tea with hot water so it goes from near-black to light brown

Quiz: Watering Down a Colour (Age 15)

  1. Water is added to a coloured solution. Why does it look paler than before?

    • The same amount of dye is now spread through more water, so it is less concentrated.
    • The added water destroys part of the dye, so less colour is left.
    • The dye settles to the bottom, so the liquid above it looks lighter.
  2. One drop of the same dye is mixed into three tubes: tube A holds 10 mL of water, tube B holds 50 mL, and tube C holds 100 mL. Which tube looks palest?

    • Tube A, with 10 mL of water
    • Tube B, with 50 mL of water
    • Tube C, with 100 mL of water
  3. A pale solution is made by adding water to a dark one. Compared with the dark solution, the pale solution contains…

    • the same total amount of dye, just spread through more liquid
    • less dye in total, because some of it was lost when the water went in
    • more dye in total, because the volume of liquid is larger

The answers, each with its explanation, are in the app. This lesson has left the free week, so its quiz is part of the subscription.

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Chemistry, Age 15