Saturday Science - making water disappear!

Dumpling was intrigued with one of the questions on the side panel of the Science bag - how to make water disappear? She asked me about it and we immediately dove into the handbook.

A quick read through, it seemed like an easy experiment so once again, Dumpling pretty much did most of the things on her own. ;)

The gathering list:
- 1cup of water
- 1 container (we used plastic in case of breakage)
- 1 scoop of Water Gel (Polymer) powder

First we measure the amount of powder

Then added to a container

And voila, the water disappeared! (I apologise in advance for the shaky video. Was distracted asking her on her observation :p)

So what happens here? The powder is a high absorbent powder which can hold up to 300 times its own weight with tap water. It is a crossed linked polymer which contains sodium atoms and absorbs by Osmosis. (I did not go through this in that much details with Dumpling of course but she understands that the properties of the powder changes the form of the water.)

We also titled the container upside down to test if there was any "leakage" but nope! None at all. 

Now, do you know that this powder is the same type which manufacturers use in diapers? :)

(Note: Polymer is non toxic but can irritate the eye and nasal path so as always, in all experiments, proceed with care)