Properties of Water:
Investigating Water Lab
Investigating Water Lab
Evaporative Cooling: Station #1 Water and Alcohol
For our water lab, we first started off with station one. We were told to put a drop of water on the inside of our hands, and one drop of alcohol on the back of our hands. As everyone in my group tested it out, we agreed that the alcohol was cooler.
Did you know that when our bodies heat up, our sweat glands produce sweat and as the sweat covers our body, or rather, the places that are heating up, the sweat (aka water) soaks up all the heat and that is how we cool down. I actually never knew about that until we discussed that in class on Friday. (Thank you, Mrs. Ogo!) Now that every time I exercise, I'll try to remember not to wipe my sweat away. Hopefully I'll remember then.
Did you also know that we breathe in other peoples' sweat "gas"? Yeah! It's true! As the sweat soaks up the heat, it then begins to evaporate. If you're stuck in a room full of sweaty people, guess what? You've already inhaled a bunch of that sweat gas. (That's kind of disturbing, isn't it?)
For our water lab, we first started off with station one. We were told to put a drop of water on the inside of our hands, and one drop of alcohol on the back of our hands. As everyone in my group tested it out, we agreed that the alcohol was cooler.
Did you know that when our bodies heat up, our sweat glands produce sweat and as the sweat covers our body, or rather, the places that are heating up, the sweat (aka water) soaks up all the heat and that is how we cool down. I actually never knew about that until we discussed that in class on Friday. (Thank you, Mrs. Ogo!) Now that every time I exercise, I'll try to remember not to wipe my sweat away. Hopefully I'll remember then.
Did you also know that we breathe in other peoples' sweat "gas"? Yeah! It's true! As the sweat soaks up the heat, it then begins to evaporate. If you're stuck in a room full of sweaty people, guess what? You've already inhaled a bunch of that sweat gas. (That's kind of disturbing, isn't it?)
Water Tension/Cohesion: Station #2 Water on a Penny
For the second station in our water lab, we predicted how many drops of water a penny can hold before it overflows. I predicted six drops of water. I remember someone predicting eighty-seven drops once. We were using a pipette to add water to the penny, one drop at a time. As we added water drops, we counted how many. All in all, my penny held up to seventeen drops of water. Pretty impressive, eh?
Do you know why that happens? Drum roll, please! The water drops were able to stick onto the penny because of... *imagines a drum roll* cohesion! Cohesion is when water molecules stick to other water molecules. When you look at the penny at a side view, you will be able to see that the water is being formed into a semi-sphere, or a dome. That's the process of cohesion!
Do you know why that happens? Drum roll, please! The water drops were able to stick onto the penny because of... *imagines a drum roll* cohesion! Cohesion is when water molecules stick to other water molecules. When you look at the penny at a side view, you will be able to see that the water is being formed into a semi-sphere, or a dome. That's the process of cohesion!
Surface Tension: Station #3 Water on Wax Paper/Parafilm
In this station, we were to drop water droplets onto a piece of parafilm (we didn't have wax paper). What I observed was that the water beads up and rolls around on the wax paper when we move the paper around. The water did not soak through the parafilm because there was surface tension present. If you had a piece of parafilm paper and you touched it, then you would feel that there was a difference between that and regular paper.
What is surface tension you say? It is when there are many hydrogen bonds in a body of water. Those hydrogen bonds stick to each other and that creates a thin layer of "film". That is surface tension. Still don't get it? Take a mosquito for example. (No! I don't mean take a mosquito as a gift, silly! I mean as an example. Duuh.) You see many mosquitoes can "stand" on water, correct? They're not really standing on the water. They're standing on the surface tension. It's also because they have light as air bodies that help them stand.
In this station, we were to drop water droplets onto a piece of parafilm (we didn't have wax paper). What I observed was that the water beads up and rolls around on the wax paper when we move the paper around. The water did not soak through the parafilm because there was surface tension present. If you had a piece of parafilm paper and you touched it, then you would feel that there was a difference between that and regular paper.
What is surface tension you say? It is when there are many hydrogen bonds in a body of water. Those hydrogen bonds stick to each other and that creates a thin layer of "film". That is surface tension. Still don't get it? Take a mosquito for example. (No! I don't mean take a mosquito as a gift, silly! I mean as an example. Duuh.) You see many mosquitoes can "stand" on water, correct? They're not really standing on the water. They're standing on the surface tension. It's also because they have light as air bodies that help them stand.
Surface Tension: Station #4 Paper Clips on the Surface of a Cup of Water
At station number four, we were to float paper clips into a beaker full of water while using other paper clips. We managed to float three paper clips. (Good job, guys!) The trick to making the paper clips float is quite easy. You just have to fix up your paper clip-tweezer up a bit and put another paper clip onto it and slowly, very slowly and gently put your tweezer-clip onto the surface of the water and wait awhile for the paper clip to settle in and gently, GENTLY I SAY!!! take your clip-tweezer underneath your paper clip. And hopefully... Tada!!! Your paper clip is floating! As you can see in the picture at the left, you can see a paper clip that is floating on the surface.
Adhesion: Station #5 Graduated Cylinder
Whenever you're doing a water lab of some sort and you use a "meniscus" and when you pour water in, you see that it has a curved shape instead of a straight line. Why is that? The reason why is because of water property of adhesion. Adhesion is when water molecules stick to other molecules to help water climb up against gravity. (It's also saying that water is a rebel. That's a good thing, though.)
Adhesion is very important in living systems because that is how they survive. Living systems depend on others for most survival. And they use adhesion to get their resources.
Adhesion is very important in living systems because that is how they survive. Living systems depend on others for most survival. And they use adhesion to get their resources.
Capillary Action: Station #6 Rolled up Paper Towel
In the last and final water lab station, station six, we were to add blue dye to one beaker full of water and none to the other same sized beaker. This beaker did not have water. Then, we rolled up a piece of paper towel and put one end into a blue water beaker and the other end to the other beaker. We watched the blue water transfer from one beaker to the other. This process is called capillary action. It is when water is able to be moved into places where gravity cannot help. (It's basically saying, once again, that water is a rebel. It is still a good thing.)
Capillary action is very important to plants and trees because it gives nutrients from the root of the plant to the tips of the leaves. Plants and trees can't just suck the water from their roots and bring it all the way from the bottom to the top! They need help. And they're just in luck. Since water is a rebel, it uses adhesion to climb its way (against gravity) from the roots to the leaves, bringing the whole plant its nutrients to survive.
In the last and final water lab station, station six, we were to add blue dye to one beaker full of water and none to the other same sized beaker. This beaker did not have water. Then, we rolled up a piece of paper towel and put one end into a blue water beaker and the other end to the other beaker. We watched the blue water transfer from one beaker to the other. This process is called capillary action. It is when water is able to be moved into places where gravity cannot help. (It's basically saying, once again, that water is a rebel. It is still a good thing.)
Capillary action is very important to plants and trees because it gives nutrients from the root of the plant to the tips of the leaves. Plants and trees can't just suck the water from their roots and bring it all the way from the bottom to the top! They need help. And they're just in luck. Since water is a rebel, it uses adhesion to climb its way (against gravity) from the roots to the leaves, bringing the whole plant its nutrients to survive.