Dissolving Candy Hearts Experiment
Using one of Valentine’s Day’s most popular treats, the dissolving candy hearts experiment is one activity to add to your must-do list. They are perfect for exploring candy science and doing projects your kids will love. If you have lots of these conversation hearts left over this Valentine’s Day, here is a great way to put them to use.
Looking for more activities like this? Check out these awesome Valentine’s Day Science Activities that kids will love.
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Science Lesson Ideas for the Candy Hearts Experiment
The candy hearts experiment is a great way to introduce chemistry to kids in a simple way. They can learn valuable lessons about solubility while watching what happens when you combine water and water mixtures with candy hearts.
There is another lesson involving time with this experiment, which can also be measurable (hello, math). Looking for science lessons to take this experiment deeper? Here are a few:
Candy Hearts Ingredients
The ingredients that make up this candy are the primary reason why they react the way they do in this experiment. Regardless of brand, most conversational hearts are made with these key ingredients:
- sugar
- corn syrup
- gelatin
- gums
- coloring
- flavoring
Knowing the ingredients now opens the door to asking – What do each of these ingredients do in water or a water mixture? Individually, each of these have the ability to dissolve in water due to their molecular makeup. However, in this case, when added to a water-sugar and water-salt mix? We’ll let the experiment answer that question!
>> See more Valentine’s Day Printables for Kids
Recommended Valentine’s Day Books
Bring more excitement to the season with these Valentine’s books for little kids. You will love these great stories about hearts, love, and Valentine’s Day.
Day It Rained HeartsThe Biggest Valentine EverTurkey’s Valentine Surprise (Turkey Trouble Book 6)There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose!A Crankenstein ValentineLove, Escargot
Lesson About Solubility
The candy hearts experiment is a great lesson about solubility and a hands-on way to check how well something can dissolve in a solvent (or liquid). The thing about solubility is the thing you want to dissolve could be a gas, liquid, or solid and what you’re using to dissolve can also be a gas, liquid, or solid.
In other words, there are a variety of ways and things you can test. For this experiment, however, we will be using solid candy hearts and a water solvent (liquid).
Testing the solubility in the candy hearts experiment, you can ask the question – which liquid is a better solvent for dissolving the solid?
Recommended Valentine’s Day Craft Kits
These Valentine’s Day craft kits will help your kids appreciate and love Valentine’s season more. This will also enhance their motor skills, and creativity while expanding their imagination.
24 Pack Kid’s Valentine’s Day Cards with 5D Diamond Painting Sticker KitsHaooryx 24 Pack Tree of Hearts Valentine Craft KitDeluxe Kids Valentine’s Day Cards – Heart Themed Fuse Bead KitsValentine Heart Charm Bracelet Craft Kit – Crafts for Kids and Fun Home ActivitiesValentine Cookie Foam Magnets Craft Kit – Makes 12 – Valentine’s Day Crafts for KidsWilton Candy Bracelet Kit-Valentine’s Day
Setting Up the Candy Hearts Experiment
There are many ways to set up this experiment depending on how many solvents you want to test. Although the main supplies involve water, sugar, and salt, you can use the following combinations:
- room-temperature water
- cold water
- hot water
- room-temperature sugar water
- cold sugar water
- hot sugar water
- room-temperature salt water
- cold salt water
- hot salt water
You can also explore with other liquids besides water. Try doing the experiment with vinegar, soda, liquid dish soap, vegetable oil, and more!
To do a basic version of the dissolving candy hearts experiment, start with room-temperature water, hot water, and the same but with sugar and salt mixed. You also only need one candy heart per mixture, so plenty will be left over to snack on while waiting to see changes.
The longer you let the candy hearts sit, the more changes you may (or may not) see. Your kids can begin checking them a couple of minutes after they have been added to the water, sugar water, and salt water. Scroll down to get the full supply list and how-to of this awesome experiment.
Dissolving Candy Hearts Experiment Supplies
- 6 cups of water
- 6 cups or bowl
- ½ cup sugar, divided
- ½ cup salt, divided
- 6 candy hearts
Recommended Science Experiment Books
Love this Valentine’s Day science experiment? Get more science experiment ideas in these books.
Recommended Science Experiment Books
Looking to add more ‘wow’ to your science explorations? Well, look no further! I’ve handpicked a whole library of the most amazing Science Experiment Books that are perfect for inquisitive kiddos like yours!
Awesome Science Experiments for Kids: 100+ Fun STEM / STEAM Projects and Why They Work (Awesome STEAM Activities for Kids)The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float Water, Measure Gravity-Challenge the World Around You!Awesome Kitchen Science Experiments for Kids: 50 STEAM Projects You Can Eat! (Awesome STEAM Activities for Kids)Awesome Outdoor Science Experiments for Kids: 50+ STEAM Projects and Why They Work (Awesome STEAM Activities for Kids)Steve Spangler’s Super-Cool Science Experiments for Kids: 50 mind-blowing STEM projects you can do at homeSmithsonian 10-Minute Science Experiments: 50+ quick, easy and awesome projects for kids
How to make this Dissolving Candy Hearts Experiment?
- Place 1 cup of water into three different cups. Into one cup, add ¼ cup sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Into the second cup, add ¼ cup salt, stirring until dissolved.
- Heat the remaining 3 cups of water until hot.
- Place 1 cup of hot water into three different cups. Into one cup, add ¼ cup sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Into the second cup, add ¼ cup salt, stirring until dissolved.
- Place one candy heart into each cup of water. Set a timer for 2 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, check the candy hearts and make note of which have changed.
- Continue checking the candy hearts every 2 to 5 minutes, making note of the changes.
- Discuss which liquids caused the candy hearts to dissolve faster/slower and why.
More Variations of the Dissolving Candy Hearts Experiment
If desired, repeat the experiment using different room-temperature liquids such as vinegar, liquid dish soap, oil, soda pop, etc.
Interesting things to note in the pictures:
- The hot water with salt – dissolved the most of all. Had a heart-shaped form on the surface.
- The cold water with salt – floated but barely dissolved.
- The cold water with sugar – the text on the candy did not disappear.
Check to see if your experiment yields the same (or similar) results!
Download the Dissolving Candy Hearts experiment worksheet below
Dissolving Candy Hearts Experiment
Equipment
- Branch’s Tiny Conversation Hearts
Materials
- 6 cups water
- ½ cup sugar divided
- ½ cup salt divided
- 6 candy hearts
Instructions
- Prepare 3 different cups of room temperature water.
- Add ¼ cup of sugar into the first cup, stirring until it is dissolved. Into the second cup, add ¼ cup salt, stirring until dissolved.
- Heat the remaining 3 cups of water until hot then pour them into three different cups.
- Repeat step two.
- Place one candy heart into each cup of water.
- After two minutes, check the candy hearts and make note of which have changed.
- Continue checking the candy hearts every 2 to 5 minutes, making note of the changes.
- Discuss which liquids caused the candy hearts to dissolve faster/slower and why.
CHIME IN: Did you do this experiment? If so, did you like it? Let me know in the comments below!