Celery Capillary Action

Materials: ★☆☆ Easy to get from supermarket or hardware store
Difficulty: ★☆☆ Can be easily done by most teenagers
Safety: ★☆☆ Minimal safety procedures required

Categories: Fluids and Surface Tension, Plants

Alternative titles: Color Changing Celery

Summary

Celery is placed in colored water and the colors move upwards to it's leaves.

Procedure

  1. Gather a celery stalk with leaves, 2 tall clear glasses, water, red and blue food colouring, and a sharp kitchen knife.
  2. Cut a thin slice off the base of the celery to freshly open the xylem tubes.
  3. Make a vertical slit about 5 cm up the middle of the stalk so the base splits into two prongs.
  4. Fill two glasses halfway with cold water; tint one glass red and the other blue with food coloring.
  5. Place one prong of the split base into the red glass and the other prong into the blue glass. Ensure the leaves remain above the rims.
  6. Leave undisturbed and observe colour changes in veins and leaves after 30 minutes; for full effect, check again after several hours or overnight.
  7. Examine the stalk closely. Then cut cross sections near the base and mid stalk to see dyed xylem rings and channels.

Celery Capillary Action - Wild Random Videos:


The Color-Changing Celery Experiment! - SciShow Kids:


📄 Capillary Action - Science World: https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/capillary-action/

📄 An Experiment In Capillary Action – Celery Science - Emmymade: https://www.emmymade.com/an-experiment-in-capillary-action-celery-science/

Variations

Safety Precautions

Safety Precautions

Questions to Consider