Have you ever thought about how many drops of water can fit on a penny? Try this fun science experiment with things found in your purse or pocket! Explore the surface tension of water with this fun and easy penny lab with the kids. We are always on the hunt for simple science experiments, and this one is just super fun and easy!
Add this simple penny lab to your science activities this season. If you want to learn about the surface tension of water, let’s dig in. While you’re at it, make sure to check out these other fun water science experiments.
Exploring water drops on a penny is a fantastic science experiment for kids because it’s simple and fascinating. By placing drops of water onto a penny, kids can observe how the water beads up and forms a dome-like shape, defying gravity.
This phenomenon occurs due to surface tension, the cohesive force that causes water molecules to stick together. Through this experiment, kids can learn about surface tension and how it affects the behavior of liquids. They can also experiment with variables such as the number of water drops or the penny’s cleanliness to see how it impacts the results. Additionally, this experiment can be efficiently conducted with everyday household items, making it accessible and engaging for scientists of all ages.
You can also easily turn your penny experiment into a fantastic presentation along with your hypothesis. Check out the resources below to get started.
TIP: If you want to add a little variety to this experiment, swap out the pennies for nickels, dimes, and quarters. Ask your students to guess how many drops will fit on each coin. Record the date from the experiment and make a class graph chart with your results!
Additional ideas for penny lab hypotheses include using different liquids or clean vs. dirty pennies. What else can you think of when creating an experiment?
Let’s investigate how many drops of water can fit on a penny. Grab your purse, turn over the couch cushions, or break out the piggy bank; it’s time to find some pennies to experiment with!
STEP 1: Add water to both of your bowls, and one of them, add green food coloring. This is optional if you want to see the drops a bit better.
STEP 2: Use an eyedropper or pipette to pick up and carefully drip one drop of water at a time onto the penny.
STEP 3: Count how many drops you can fit onto one penny until the water overflows.
We were able to get ours up to about 27! Go ahead and record the data for separate trials on the same coin. What can you conclude?
Were you surprised that a lot more drops of water fit on a penny than you predicted? We had 27 drops of water on ours!
What property of water allows the water to stick to the penny? Surface tension and cohesion are why you can get so many drops of water on a penny.
Cohesion is the “stickiness” of like molecules to one another. Water molecules love to stick together! Surface tension is the result of all the water molecules sticking together. Learn more about the surface tension of water!
Once the water has reached the edge of the penny, a dome shape begins to form. This is due to the surface tension forming a shape with the least amount of surface area possible (like bubbles)!
What happens if you use a different liquid like alcohol? Can you as many drops on a penny?
This drops of water on a penny experiment is a fantastic opportunity to use the scientific method and record your experiment using the free mini worksheet pack below.
The first step in the scientific method is asking a question and developing a hypothesis.
Apply the scientific method to this drops-on-a-penny science activity and turn it into a surface tension experiment by choosing a question to investigate.
Here are a few resources that will help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.
If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!
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