Book 3, Question 143
Why Does Paint Dry?
Wet paint is bits of color floating in a liquid. Drying means that liquid leaves or changes. Then the color bits lock together into a thin, solid film!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 3
More fun facts
- Paint is made of colored bits called pigments mixed into a liquid that binds them.
- Watercolor and acrylic paints contain water, and they dry as the water evaporates.
- Oil paint dries in a different way. It takes in oxygen from the air and slowly hardens.
- Oil paint may not fully dry for weeks, so artists can keep fixing their work.
- Some paints contain extra ingredients that speed up or slow down drying.
- Scientists studying drying paint found that, as the water evaporated, smaller particles pushed bigger ones aside and the paint formed layers.
Sources: Scientific American, BBC
Questions kids ask
Why does oil paint take so long to dry?
Oil paint does not dry by evaporating. It slowly takes in oxygen from the air and hardens, which can take weeks.