Experiment Guide

Nails for Breakfast?

You Will Need:

"Iron-fortified" breakfast cereal
A blender
Measuring cup
A clear plastic cup
Water
A strong magnet
White plastic spoon

What To Do:

Mix two cups of iron-fortified cereal with two cups of water in the blender pitcher. Let it sit for a few minutes until the cereal is soft, then blend to make a smooth consistency.
Pour some of the cereal mix into a clear plastic cup.
While holding the magnet against the outside of the cup, stir the mix inside the cup gently with the plastic spoon. What happens when the magnet is taken away?

What This Means:
Some of the iron with which our breakfast cereals are fortified is in the form of "raw" elemental iron, hence the strong attraction to the magnet (iron in compounds does not show this same degree of attraction). The small pieces of elemental iron are attracted to the magnet and gather to form the dark spot you can see on the side of the cup. The longer you stir the cereal mix in the cup, the darker the spot. When the magnet is removed, the spot will gradually disperse back into the cereal.

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