Discover the World of Science With Evonik: "Water Lily"
Water lilies are not only pretty to look at, they can also hide secret messages that only become visible again when they are floating on water.
What you need:
Scissors
Colored drawing paper
Large bowl filled with water
How the experiment works:
1. Paint a water lily on the paper.
(Draw an octagon with a triangle on each side, pointing away from the octagon)
2. Draw a secret message inside the octagon.
3. Cut out the shape.
4. Fold down the petals.
5. Fill the large bowl with water.
6. Put the water lily on the water.
What do you observe?
What happened?
Paper is composed of cellulose fibers. As a result, water can cause paper to expand as it penetrates the free spaces between the fibers. This also happens with the folds of your water lily. The fibers in the folds expand due to the water, allowing the water lily to "bloom".
