For a science project i need five layers of different liquids that stand out. any ideas?

Question

no cleaning products, my teacher said inhaling a mixture with them in it could be leathal. thanks again ;)

Answer 1

Water & cooking oil are two that come to mind. I'm assuming you  need to put these together to show the layers?

I'd just go around the house trying different things... milk, shampoo perhaps, baby oil, perhaps vinegar... try maybe olive oil with cooking oil.. not sure if there is a big difference or not.

Experiment.

Answer 2

The trick is that you can use liquids that do mix together, but separate them by a layer that won't mix in.  The scientific word for this is "immiscible": Here's an easy way to do it:

Take water and oil.  Add food coloring (different colors) to two of the samples of water, and one of the oil samples.  You may have to play around to get the food coloring to stay mixed in with the oil depending on the exact brand--most are designed to dissolve in water, not oil.    

Alcohol shouldn't mix with oil, so you could use isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol for one layer, and ethanol (drinking alcohol) for another layer, just to get different actual liquids in.  Different types of oil would work, too.  Chloroform doesn't mix with water, either.

Be sure to layer very carefully and not disturb lower layers while you're adding the higher ones.

You can also layer water on water mixed with sugar or water mixed with other things.  Really, as long as they are very different solutions, you'll be able to layer them, you just have to be careful while you do it.  Keep in mind that if you let these types of layers sit for a long time, they will end up mixing in.

Another important thing to keep in mind:  Heavy things won't stay on top of light things when you do the layers.  For example, chloroform is heavier than water.  If you try to layer it on top of water,it will just fall through the water layer to the bottom.

Wander around your house and start gathering liquids.  Things like vanilla extract, milk, juice, corn syrup will all end up working.  You're going to have to experiment a little to get the layers in the right order.

Your teacher is right about mixing cleaning products, too.  The biggest worry is mixing bleach and ammonia--this creates a VERY toxic gas!  Be careful if you use any lab chemicals, too--just be sure check with your science teacher.  Anything that you can eat in your home shouldn't be a problem, though you can create chemical reactions.  None of them are particularly dangerous, but some can messy if you mix a bunch together at once--test a mix of a couple of drops first.

Also, for the most part, shampoos (especially gentle ones) or conditioners will be safe to mix, too.  Overall, things that we eat and things that we cover our bodies with aren't going to form a dangerous reaction.