Experiment: Dissolving M&M's candy coating with different liquids
Watch an experiment on dissolving the candy coating on M&M'S.
© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Transcript
Hi, everybody. You know, folks out there love M&M's. They're delicious. They've got that great chocolate on the inside, all those beautiful colors, and that candy coating.
Have you, guys, ever tried to take the candy coating off an M&M? Well, today, I've got some water, some alcohol, and some oil. And we're going to see which one gets the coating off the M&M the best.
What you need is a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of isopropyl alcohol. Now, if you use this, you have to have an adult work with you. It could be a teacher, a parent, or other adult. And then the last one is mineral oil.
These are three clear, colorless liquids. They look the same. But does it dissolve the same? Let's find out.
So I'm going to put an M&M in each of the liquids. And use the same color. With one, water, one in alcohol, and one in the oil. . And I'm going to stir them the same way, for the same length of time.
You can see that in the water, the candy coating dissolved kind of a lot. But in the alcohol, it didn't dissolve as much. And in the mineral oil, it barely dissolved at all.
So the candy coating of an M&M is made out of sugar and coloring. Now, both of those molecules have positive and negative areas on them. Now, water molecules also have positive and negative areas. So when the water molecules come over to the candy coating, they begin to interact with the molecules of the sugar and coloring. But the positive end of the water attracts the negative part of the candy coating, and the candy coating dissolves.
Now, the alcohol actually has some water in it. But it also has alcohol molecules that don't have as many positive and negative areas like water does. So it's not as good at interacting with the sugar and coloring. And you only get a little bit of dissolving.
Now the mineral oil, the molecules that make up that don't have any positive or negative areas. So it doesn't interact with the candy coating at all. So you get, basically, no dissolving.
Now, one thing that looks pretty cool is if you put two or more M&M's in a shallow plate of water. And look at the design that happened. The color comes off the M&M.
But when the color is [INAUDIBLE], they don't seem to mix. Pretty cool. They'll eventually mix. But it takes time.
So, next time you, guys, dissolve something in water, you'll notice the water molecules are interacting with the molecules of the substance that you're dissolving. And their interaction is what makes something dissolve. And that's chemistry in action.
Have you, guys, ever tried to take the candy coating off an M&M? Well, today, I've got some water, some alcohol, and some oil. And we're going to see which one gets the coating off the M&M the best.
What you need is a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of isopropyl alcohol. Now, if you use this, you have to have an adult work with you. It could be a teacher, a parent, or other adult. And then the last one is mineral oil.
These are three clear, colorless liquids. They look the same. But does it dissolve the same? Let's find out.
So I'm going to put an M&M in each of the liquids. And use the same color. With one, water, one in alcohol, and one in the oil. . And I'm going to stir them the same way, for the same length of time.
You can see that in the water, the candy coating dissolved kind of a lot. But in the alcohol, it didn't dissolve as much. And in the mineral oil, it barely dissolved at all.
So the candy coating of an M&M is made out of sugar and coloring. Now, both of those molecules have positive and negative areas on them. Now, water molecules also have positive and negative areas. So when the water molecules come over to the candy coating, they begin to interact with the molecules of the sugar and coloring. But the positive end of the water attracts the negative part of the candy coating, and the candy coating dissolves.
Now, the alcohol actually has some water in it. But it also has alcohol molecules that don't have as many positive and negative areas like water does. So it's not as good at interacting with the sugar and coloring. And you only get a little bit of dissolving.
Now the mineral oil, the molecules that make up that don't have any positive or negative areas. So it doesn't interact with the candy coating at all. So you get, basically, no dissolving.
Now, one thing that looks pretty cool is if you put two or more M&M's in a shallow plate of water. And look at the design that happened. The color comes off the M&M.
But when the color is [INAUDIBLE], they don't seem to mix. Pretty cool. They'll eventually mix. But it takes time.
So, next time you, guys, dissolve something in water, you'll notice the water molecules are interacting with the molecules of the substance that you're dissolving. And their interaction is what makes something dissolve. And that's chemistry in action.