I'm hoping someone knows the answer to this problem I am having.
I am doing an experiment with my 2nd graders where we are trying to extract the red, yellow and orange colors out of leaves. So far we've been able to get only yellows. I have tried nearly everything I can think of, and even consulted two chemistry professors, both of whom say I am doing it right.
Here are the steps we do:
1. Tear the leaf into tiny pieces
2. Using the edge of a rock, cut and rip the pieces into even smaller pieces
3. Place all pieces into a cup and add acetone, stir thorougly
4. Using a q-tip, dab the resulting green liquid onto a piece of coffee filter
5. Dip the coffee filter into rubbing alcohol, just barely gettiing into the dab of green liquid.
Variations I have tried:
- different leaves. I've used spinach, lettuce, collard greens, as well as leaves off of local trees.
- differnet strengths of rubbing alcohol, from 71% to 90%
- different strengths of acetone. While I haven't measured the mixture I have used about half acetone/half water all the way up to full strength.
Any ideas out there?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Education Issues from the state of Texas and across the country
About Me
- Mike in Texas
- I am currently in my 15th year of teaching Science and Technology in a small Texas school district.
Email Me
Favorite Blogs
4 comments:
Thanks for linking me here. Let me link you back, 'ayt? May I add you to the links in my latest entry? I hope that won't be the last time that you'll visit my blog. Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts with us in my "cyberclassroom". Let's learn from each other.
First of all, don't use acetone. Nasty stuff.
Get some alcohol...ethanol (the drinking kind) is good, but isopropyl (rubbing) should also be fine.
Take your filter paper and lay the whole leaf across it. Use a quarter or ruler to crush the leaf onto the paper, making a line of pigment about an inch from the bottom of the paper.
Set the paper in a container with just a bit of alcohol in the bottom. Believe it or not, the less you use, the better results you will get.
I'd also consider using a dark green leaf (spinach)just to show that the reds, oranges, and yellows are in there, too.
Let me know if you want more info.
Allen,
Thanks for the links, I have them printed out and will look them over as soon as I can. I did look at one very quickly and tried the demonstration to seperate the colors from a maker, it makes a nice, quick display.
I've tried many different kinds of plants. This past week I've been using collard greens, which produce a very nice yellow.
I usually try to have about a 50/50 mix of plant material to a 50/50 mix of acetone/water. I'm going to try tomorrow to use water as the final mixture to seperate the colors on the strip. I usually have classes for 1 hours at a time, so we spend about 10 minutes mixing the leaves and acetone. We then let the test strips dry for several hours suspended upright.
With a name like "Science Goddess" she can't be wrong!
Post a Comment