European Science Club
Have Fun with Science

The blooming paper flower

We have already seen that water has some very interesting features, that could for example be used to make a soap engine for a paper boat. In this experiment we will use the interaction between water and paper itself. 

If you fold a paper and put it on a water surface the water will try to unfold the paper again. This effect can be used to create a paper flower that blooms as soon as you put it on the water.

Materials you need for this experiment:

paper

The paper is needed to create the flower

scissors

The scissors are needed to cut ut the paper flower

bowl with water

The bowl with water will be the basis for your flower garden


How to do the experiment:


Print the paper flower in the image on the left and cut it out or make a similar paper flower. If you want to paint it be sure that the colors you are using are water proof. Otherwise your masterpiece will suffer when you put it into the water.


After cutting out the flower fold all the leafs towards the center. It works best if there is no overlap between the leafs.


After folding all the leafs toward the center, your flower should look like in the left image.


Put it on the water surface and wait a few seconds.


The flower will start blooming ...


... until it is fully opened.


Try different geometries for your flower. Which one work best? Can you create a flower within a flower? Have fun experimenting!