Color Changing Milk Magic Experiment

Whole milk (higher fat content works best)

A shallow plate or dish

Food coloring in multiple colors

Liquid dish soap

Cotton swabs

Pour whole milk into a plate until the bottom is just covered.

Drop food coloring in several spots — red, blue, yellow, green.

Dip the tip of a cotton swab in dish soap.

Gently touch the soapy tip to the milk surface at the center of a color spot.

Watch the explosion of color racing outward in swirls and spirals.

Touch new spots with fresh soapy swabs for more dramatic reactions.

Keep going until the plate is a swirling kaleidoscope.

The science: soap molecules break the surface tension of milk and chase the fat molecules away, carrying color with them.

Whole milk works best because it has the most fat for the soap to react with. Skim milk barely reacts.

The visual is genuinely stunning — film it from above for a time-lapse effect.

Try different soaps: dish soap vs. hand soap vs. body wash. Compare reaction intensity.

This is the same surface tension science that explains how soap cleans — it breaks the bonds between grease and water.