Density in Nature Democritus believed that all matter was similar to sand. Even though a piece of wood appears to be solid, it is, in fact, made up of little individual particles that Democritus and his teacher called atoms. Perform the following experiment to see the kind of observation best explained using the concept of atoms. Materials Needed ♦ Vegetable oil ♦ Water ♦ Maple or corn syrup ♦ A calamansi ♦ A piece of cork ♦ An ice cube ♦ A small rock ♦ A tall glass ♦ Eye protection such as goggles or safety glasses Introduction: Observations such as the ones you will make in this experiment are easy to explain when you assume the existence of atoms. Procedure: Take the glass and fill it about ¼ of the way with the vegetable oil. Add an equal amount of water to the glass. Add an equal amount of maple syrup to the glass. Now look at the glass from the side. What do you see? sketch of what you see. 5. Drop the rock, the calamansi, the ice cube, and the piece of cork into the glass. Now what do you see? Add the rock, calamansi, ice cube, and cork to the sketch you made in step 4. 6. Clean up your mess and put everything away. Write all your observations & Analysis: