Do you have leftover Valentine’s Day gummy candies? If you do, then this is the perfect experiment to try! Learn all about osmosis through this experiment.

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‍Materials:

- Gummy Candy

- Bowl

- Water

Optional Materials:

- Scale

- Paper

- Writing Utensil

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Procedure:

1. If you have a scale, weigh your gummy candy and record how much they weigh.

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2. Place your gummy candy in the bowl. Then, pour enough water into the bowl so the candy is covered.

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3. Let the candy sit in the bowl of water. Check on it every couple of hours. What do you see happening?

Science Tip: Did your gummy candy grow? Some gummies will grow while other do not. If your gummy didn't grow, try again with another kind.

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4. If you weighed and recorded your gummy candy’s weight earlier, weigh and record the weight of your now grown gummy candy. Is there a difference?

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What's happening? The gummy candy grew because of a process called osmosis. Osmosis happens when water moves from one side of a membrane, or barrier, to the other side of the membrane until both sides are balanced. Because gummy candies are made of water, sugar, and gelatin, they make the perfect membrane.

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When you set up your experiment, the gummy candy was placed in a bowl with water. There was a lot more water on the outside of the gummy candy than the inside, which causes the water to be unbalanced (inside the gummy candy vs. outside the gummy candy).

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The water then moves from the outside of the gummy candy through the membrane – the surface of the gummy candy – to the inside of the gummy candy. This happens until the water is equal on both sides. The gummy candy grows because of all the extra water that is now inside.

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