The water began seeping up the coffee filter in a process called chromatography. During chromatography, a mixture dissolves in a liquid and its components travel at different rates and, therefore, end up in separate locations.

Almog spread the coffee filter across a sheet of newspaper, dabbed the excess die off and held it up to the light.

“See you can see a little blue,” she said, pointing at spots of indigo dotting the brown splotch on the coffee filter.

Lenny Faiwiszewski chose to study whether Alka-Seltzer pills release more gas in hot, cool or ice water. He filled a tub with water of various temperatures, dropped in an Alka-Seltzer and sealed off the top with a plastic cover. A tube stretched from the plastic cover to the nozzle of a syringe. After two minutes, Lenny measured how much gas had traveled through the tube and pushed the plunger out of the syringe.

“In hot water, the syringe pushed out all the way, in warm water it was part way and it didn’t move in ice water,” Lenny said. “So if you’re drinking cold water, it will work better.”

Aaron Strempt advised people interested in skydiving to avoid circular parachutes.  Before testing out various chute shapes, Aaron hypothesized that round parachutes would reach the ground quickest. Actually, he discovered, they fall slower than triangular, rectangular and square parachutes, making them the slowest ride down to the ground. 

Aaron said the army mainly uses rectangular parachutes because they hold air well, as opposed to circular parachutes, which leak air and create a jerky ride.

“As you can see, this one goes really fast,” Aaron said while releasing a triangular parachute, constructed by attaching strings to each corner of a triangular cloth and then tying the ends of the strings around a metal nut. The contraption dropped to the floor.

“And this one goes really slow,” he said as his circular parachute fluttered to the ground.

Helping over the holiday

Seven College of Mount Saint Vincent students spent part of their winter break helping those in need at Bethlehem Farm in West Virginia.