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Home » Activities » Science » Black Marker Coffee Filter Experiment – What Colors Make Black

Black Marker Coffee Filter Experiment – What Colors Make Black

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure .

Is black a color? How does paint or ink get its color? Which colors do you mix to create black? We were curious. So, we did the classic black marker experiment to discover and observe a bit more about what colors make black. 

Black Marker Coffee Filter Experiment

Black Marker Coffee Filter Experiment

Learn about the Science of Color with the Black Marker Experiment

A great way to introduce this activity is to create a color wheel.  The art sequence of lessons within Montessori includes this activity and would make for a terrific exploration of primary and secondary colors. 

Black Marker Experiment Materials

  • white coffee filter
  • bowl
  • water
  • black marker (not permanent)


Steps to Black Marker Coffee Filter Experiment

  • design the edge of the coffee filter
  • roll the filter into a cone
  • pour water into the bowl (doesn’t have to be a lot)
  • place the filter into the bowl with water in it
  • observe what happens as the water travels up the filter

Black Magic Experiment

Questions to Ask the Children about the Science of Colors

  • What are the colors of the rainbow?
  • What do you think will happen when we place the filter into the water?
  • What will happen when the water makes it to the black marker?
  • Does one color move more quickly than the other? Why?
  • How many colors do you see?
  • Why does combining many colors of ink make black?
  • Who would use this science? Why? (Biochemists)

black marker square

Science Behind Black Marker Experiment

  • Water separates the various pigments of the black ink
  • The colors’ speed depend on the size of the color molecule and how strongly the pigment is attracted to the paper
  • Because the pigments have varying strengths and sizes, they separate when the water hits the black ink
  • The science is called chromatography where a gas or liquid flows through a stationary substance
  • The ingredients within the substance move at different rates
  • Paint, for example, becomes a color by absorbing some of the colors in white light and reflecting other colors. Blue looks blue because it reflects the blue part of light and absorbs all other colors. When you mix many colors, each color added absorbs more light, leaving less light to reflect to your eye. So, when many colors are mixed together, we have black.

What Colors Make Black?

According to WikiHow, “Black paint can be made with equal parts red, yellow, and blue paint mixed together on a palette. You can also mix complementary colors such as blue and orange, red and green, or yellow and purple. Mixing blue and brown can also result in a rich black.”

What Next?

  • Try red or another color 
  • Experiment with different types of markers
  • Try different types of paper

Read about Color

  • White Rabbit’s Color Book
  • Mouse Paint
  • Little Blue and Little Yellow
  • Blue Goose
  • Charley Harper Colors


More Science

  • How to Do Awesome Dry Ice Experiments that Make Learning Fun
  • The Ultimate List of Experiments on Friction
  • Easy Science Activity for Kids: Make an Awesome Pulley with Kids!
  • The Ultimate List of Baking Soda & Vinegar Experiments
  • Electricity Experiments with Kids: Super Easy Science Experiments
  • Impress Your Curious Kids – Amazing Fruit Electricity with a Lemon Clock
  • Easy Science Activity with Balloons – How to Build a Balloon Rocket

Other Science Activities:

How to Build a Magnetic Car with Your Kids

DIY Magnetic Sand Table

Magnetism Science Experiments for Kids: Magnetic Board

Light Activities for Preschoolers - Learning about Light Energy

The Ultimate List of Light Energy Experiments for Kids

Science Activity with Milk & Food Coloring

Science of Flight Activities for Kids

Easy Science Activity with Balloons - How to Build a Balloon Rocket

Easy Science Experiments for Kids - Surface Tension

Easy Motion Science Experiment that Will Wow Your Kids

10+ Amazing Science Activities for Preschoolers

Arctic Animal Science Experiment for Preschoolers

Super Cool Easy Science Experiments for Kids - Learn about Sound

Preschool Physical Science Activity - Leaf Pounding

The Coolest Preschool Science Activity - Surface Tension

What Do Germs Look Like - Science Activity for Kids

Explore How Cats Eyes Glow with this Science Activity

How to Make a Pulley with Kids - Easy Science Activity

Electricity Experiments with Kids: Super Easy Science Experiments

[Baking Soda and Vinegar] Experiment with Balloons - Earth Day Science

Tagged With: Chemistry, Elementary, Kindergarten, Preschool

About Marnie Craycroft

Marnie hails from Maine where she spent summers buried in sand and winters buried in snow. She is the daughter of a nearly four decade veteran of the public school systems. Teaching has always been a part of her life. She founded Carrots Are Orange in 2010.

Carrots Are Orange is a Montessori learning and living website for parents and teachers.

Marnie graduated from Wesleyan University in 1999 with a BA in Economics. She spent nearly a decade working in investment management. In 2006, she earned her MA in business from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.

Marnie moved to the west coast in 1999 and currently lives in Boulder with her husband and three sons. She is Montessori trained. Her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy, Buzzfeed, PBS Kids, BabyCenter, the Melissa & Doug blog, Huffington Post, and WhattoExpect.com. Besides writing, passions include running (usually after her three sons), photography, and outdoor adventures.

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