Capillary Action-wha?

Ryan is constantly asking to do "science." OK...where to start! He's usually happy if we do a small experiment or something like that. So yesterday, we made water "walk" from one glass to the next.

The scientific term for this "phemomena" is Capillary Action - or the ability for water to flow against the force of gravity. We just called it WALKING WATER...

We started with two glass glasses and put some water with food coloring in one. Then, we tore a strip of paper towel and "linked" the two glasses together. Right away the paper towel started to soak up the water and move down the paper towel.

It took a little while - a LONG while according to the kids - but eventually, water started dripping into the other glass.

After leaving it all night, the final result was about a quarter of the water walking over to the other one.

Cool, huh?