Valentine’s Day Viscosity Experiment

Viscosity is a physical property of fluids. The word viscous comes from the Latin word viscum, meaning sticky. It describes how fluids resist flow or how “thick” or “thin” they are. Viscosity is affected by what the fluid is made of and its temperature.

Imagine pouring syrup and water from a bottle. Syrup is more viscous because it’s thick and flows more slowly, while water is less viscous because it’s thin and flows more quickly. So, viscosity is like how gooey or runny a liquid feels!

ALSO LEARN ABOUT… Density of Liquids

Viscosity Experiment For Kids

Kids can certainly help to set up this Valentine’s Day viscosity experiment. Talk about what is viscosity and provide examples (see above).

Supplies:

• Small clear plastic cups
• Small plastic hearts (or similar)
• Various liquids (water, dish soap, oil, liquid glue, hair gel, corn syrup etc.)
• Paper and pencil

Set Up:

STEP 1: Have your kids search around the house for various liquids. If you want to try this with a class, you can provide a variety of liquids kids can choose from.

STEP 2: Kids can help pour liquids too. Pouring the liquids is a great opportunity to check out their viscosity! Less viscous liquids will pour faster than more viscous liquids.

Add a different liquid to each cup.

Optional: Label each cup from low viscosity to high viscosity.

STEP 3:  You can take it further by dropping in these little hearts. Put one heart in each cup. It’s for Valentine’s Day, after all?! They don’t have any hearts, so why not try this with paper clips or pennies?

• Do the hearts sink or float?
• Which liquid suspends the hearts the best?
• Do those liquids have high or low viscosity?

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT: Valentine Bubble Science

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Viscosity Experiment Results

Our favorite liquid for this viscosity was the hair gel {extra hold gel}!

The corn syrup was pretty good, but our hearts are light. Even if we poked them down into the corn syrup, they would slowly rise up over time.

The dish soap and glue were so-so. One heart sank, and one floated. My son found it delightful to poke the hearts into the thicker liquids to see what they would do.

Also, take a look at our Valentines Oil and Water density experiment tray.

Most liquids can be saved and poured back into the appropriate containers, so there is very little waste. Quick and easy science! I love science experiments I can whip up in minutes but also get us thinking and exploring.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Water Displacement Experiment

Printable Valentine STEM Project Pack

Countdown to Valentine’s Day with science and STEM! Pack includes complete instructions, templates, and images for 20+ activities. Bonus: printable science Valentine’s Day cards!

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