Have you ever tried to make the M of an M&M candy float? We did! The floating M candy science experiment is easy, quick, and pretty cool! We went crazy with the candy science, candy STEM, and candy math activities this year. We have tons of holiday candy leftover, and we can totally use it for fun science and STEM instead.

FLOATING M SCIENCE EXPERIMENT FOR COOL CANDY SCIENCE!

Candy science is hands on learning that’s tasty, fun, and educational too! Of course you might have to try a piece or two in the process like we did with our Candy Taste Test Experiment! Now that was a science for the senses!

Our latest candy science experiment with leftover candy is to see if we could get a floating m off of an M&M. Find out the science behind how the M floats off the candy below or is it magic?

MORE FUN CANDY SCIENCE, STEM, AND MATH

FLOATING M SUPPLIES

M&M’s in all colors. Making a rainbow is fun.

Water

Shallow bowl or mini cups (you can try this in individual cups like you see below or in one cup like the video)

FREE! Grab 15 Simple Science Activities Printable Below!

So how does a floating m happen? First you need to fill your container{s} with water. Place M&M’s m side up in the water. What happens to the M&M? It sinks. Have your kids make a prediction before dropping them into the water.

Or try a single cup version for a fun and unique affect too!

The floating m doesn’t happen immediately, but the color dissolving off of the M&M happened almost immediately. You may have to wait up to 10 minutes to see this happen.

The materials used to color the m&m aren’t afraid of water, so they dissolve quickly and make rainbow colored water! The chocolate on the other hand did not dissolve quickly, but we wanted to see the floating m!

SIMPLE FLOATING M SCIENCE

And there it is! The floating m! Why does the m float? Some parts of this favorite candy are water soluble. What does water soluble mean? It dissolves in water of course! Water molecules are able to surround the molecules of the solid and dissolve it into the water.

With this floating M activity you can see the colored shell of the candy is water soluble. However, the special m is not! As the shell dissolves, the M floats free.

It’s made out of edible paper. You can also see this paper on cakes. My son wanted to go out and get a piece to eat, but I convinced him it wouldn’t taste that great!

Turn it into an experiment and check out if Skittles candy work the same way?

Some other fun science to think about what solids dissolve in liquids. Set up a whole candy dissolving science experiment with your leftover candy. Of course the classic skittles science is always fun to watch (video too)!

The first to float was the red m&m. They did not all have a floating m immediately. In fact, the last to go was the blue.

It took about 10ish minutes to see the first floating m. They all floated by 20 minutes. We didn’t set a stopwatch, but that would be a fun addition for STEM learning.

Can you make an m float for your next kitchen science experiment? Dig into your kid’s candy bucket to find out! There’s so much to learn already available at your fingertips. Set up simple science anytime at home.