This photo was taken by Mr. Jim Wilson of AIMS (Activities that Integrate Mathematics and Science)
while conducting the following experiment.
To grow the forest, eighty grams of salt was dissolved in 700 mL of water and
then poured into a half-gallon glass pickle jar. Fresh water was carefully
poured, to minimize mixing, onto the saltwater and completely fills the jar.
Three holes were punched in the plastic lid from a coffee can. Glass eyedroppers,
filled with a different color of food coloring, were carefully inserted
into the holes. The dense food coloring "falls through" the less dense
frehs water but does not penetrate the denser saltwater layer. After approximately
30 minutes, the food coloring forms the tree-like patterns shown in the photograph.
The above picture was taken with an inexpensive digital camera. This picture is one of Mr. Wilson's 12 photos
that were presented at APS/DFD meeting (San Diego, Nov. 18-20, 2001) and was titled as 'A Fluid Forest'.
Contributed by Mr. Jim Wilson,
(AIMS Education Foundation) and Dr. Robert Benjamin
(Los Alamos National Laboratory).
