Activity 1: Scientific Methods and State of Matter

Part 1: Does hot water or cold water freeze faster?

 

      1. Picture of experiment materials and setup:

·         Measuring sup

·         Cups

                        ·         ½ cup of water each at different temp (cold, and hot) 

      2. Hypothesis: Cold water will freeze faster than hot water because the temperature of cold water is closer to the freezing point of water which is 32°F. 

      3. Data in form of a graph or table:

type of water	time (hr)	time (hr)	time (hr)
	trial 1	trial 2	trial 3
cold	1.4	1.36	1.38
hot	2	1.57	1.59

 

     4. Data of experiment:

·         Trial 1: time water freeze (hour)

§  Cold: 1:40 hour

§  Hot: 2 hours

·         Trial 2:

§  Cold: 1:36 hour

§  Hot:  1:57 hour

·         Trial 3:

§  Cold: 1:38 hour

§  Hot: 1:59 hour

5. Controlled variable: The control variable in this experiment was the amount of water. Each trial, I measured out ½ cup of water. 

6. Formulated theory: Cold water freeze fast than hot water. The molecules in the cold water are less spread out and active, making it easier and faster for the water to freeze.

Part 2: Does hot water or cold water boil faster?

      1. Pictures of experiment materials and setup:

·         Measuring cups

·         Pot

·         1 cup of water each at different temperature (cold, hot, room temperature)

      2. Hypothesis: Hot water will boil faster than cold water because the temperature of hot water is closer to the boiling point of water which is at 212°F.

      3. Data in form of a Graph or table:

temp of water	time (min)	time (min)	time (min)
	trial 1	trial 2	trial 3
cold	3.06	3.08	3.05
hot	2.25	2.19	2.22

     4.Data of experiment:

·         Trial 1: time the water boil

§  Cold: 3:06 minutes

§  Hot: 2:25 minutes

·         Trial 2:

§  Cold: 3:08 minutes

§  Hot: 2:19 minutes

·         Trial 3:

§  Cold: 3:05 minutes

§  Hot: 2:12 minutes

     5. Controlled variables: The controlled in the experiment was the amount of water. Each temperature of the water the same amount which was one cup. I also used the same pot. 

     6. Formulated theory: Because the molecules in hot water are more spread out, it doesn’t take long or a lot of energy for water to boil and change to gas.

Part 3: Does salt water freeze faster or slower than regular water?

     1.Pictures of  experiment materials and setup:

·         Measuring cups

·         Cups

·         1 cup of water

                        ·         1 teaspoon of salt 

        2. Hypothesis: The regular water will freeze faster than the water with salt because the molecules in the regular water will be closer to each other. 

        3. Data in form of a graph or table

type of water	time (hr)	time (hr)	time (hr)
	trial 1	trial 2	trial 3
salt water	2.3	2.2	2.26
regular water	2.1	2	2.07

 

     4.    Data of experiment:

·         Trial 1: time water freeze

§  Salt water: 2:30 hours

§  Regular water: 2:10 hours

·         Trial 2:

§  Salt water: 2.20 hours

§  Regular water: 2 hours

·         Trial 3:

§  Salt water: 2:26 hours

                                    §  Regular water: 2.07 hours 

    5.      Controlled variable: the amount of water for each trial remained the same. An uncontrolled variable was the amount of salt. Although the amount of salt was the same for each trial the amount of salt in water. 

    6.      Formulated theory: Adding salt to water will lower its freezing point, causing the salt water to freeze slower regular water. 

   ---

     7. Images of atoms that make up water molecules: 

 (Image from http://www.lenntech.com/water-chemistry-faq.htm)

H₂O are the atoms that make up a water molecule.

(Image from http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/171solublesalts.html)

NaCl are the atoms for salt, while H₂O are the atoms for water. 

     8.       Arrangement Of Molecules In The Three States Of Matter
           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v12xG80KcZw

     

     9. The process of experiment is observation, hypothesis, experiment, and then theory. During the hypothesis step, the experimenter comes up with testable explanations of observed data. Once the hypothesis has been made, the next step is to test it out. After getting the result, a theory can be made. Each part of this experiment went through this procedure. The reason for this was because each part had its own agenda. The first part was trying to find which type of water will freeze faster, cold or hot water. The second part was testing to see which would boil faster, hot or cold water?   The last part is to test if salt water will freeze faster or slower than water without salt.

          

    10. Each part of this experiment is repeatable. The purpose of repeating each part is to make sure you get similar results so that you know it’s credible. In the experiments, I got results that were pretty similar to each other. In the first part, the average time for how fast the cold water froze was 1.38 hour. The average for hot water to freeze was 2.12 hour. In the second part, the average time for cold water to boil was 3.06 minutes while the average for hot water to boil was 2.22 minutes. In the third part of the experiment, the average time for salt water to freeze was 2.25 hours and as for the water without salt, the time was 2.05 hours. 

    11.There are many science concepts that go with this experiment. A concept that goes along with this experiment is molecules. Molecules are groups of two more atoms held together by chemical bonds. Matter is anything that has mass and volume, while mass is the measurement of the amount of matter in an object. The concept that really described this experiment is physical changes. Physical changes are changes in which the substance is not changed. In this experiment, we boil and freeze the water, constantly changing its state from liquid to gas and from liquid to solid. The freezing and boiling point was also important since that was the purpose of the experiment. Heat and temperature is also a concept since boiling the water requires energy Elements, atoms, and compounds are also important concepts in this experiment, since water is made from the element hydrogen and oxygen. As for part three of the experiment, the salt water would be considered as a solution.

The materials that were needed for this experiment were water at different temperature, hot and cold, measuring cup, cups, teaspoon, pot, and salt. For the first part of the experiment, I measured out ½ cup of water from each temperature, and poured it into cups. After labeling the cups, I put them in the freezer. The first time I did this, I forgot to check on the water. Because of that I didn’t know which one froze first, so I had to redo it. For my first trial, the cold water froze within an hour and forty minutes, while the hot water froze in two hours. In the second trial, the cold water froze within one hour and 36 minutes, while the hot water froze at 1:57 minutes. In the third trial, the cold water took one hour and thirty-eight minutes to freeze while the hot water took one hour and fifty-nine minutes. The second part was to test which type of water will boil faster, hot or cold. For the second part, I measured out 1 cup of water. I initially used two different pots. I found out that the pots had an effect on how fast the water boil. Because of this, I decided to just stick with one pot. In the first trial, it took six minutes and six second for the cold water to boil, while the hot water took two minutes and twenty-five seconds. In the second trial, the cold water boiled at three minutes and eight seconds, while the water took two minutes and nineteen seconds. For the third trial, cold water took three minutes and five seconds to boils, while the hot water took two minutes and twelve seconds. The last part of the experiment was to test if salt water will freeze faster or slower than water without salt. In the first trial salt water froze at a slower rate than regular water. Salt froze in two hours and thirty minutes while regular water froze in two hours and ten minutes. During the second trial the salt took two hours and twenty minutes to freeze. In the third trial, regular water froze faster that salt water by twenty minutes.

My hypothesis was right. I hypothesize that cold water was going to freeze faster than hot, hot water was going to freeze, and that regular will freeze faster than salt water.  The molecules in the cold water are less spread out and active, making it easier and faster for the water to freeze. Because the molecules in hot water are more spread out, it doesn’t take long or a lot of energy for water to boil and change to gas. Adding salt to water will lower its freezing point, causing the salt water to freeze slower regular water.

Science is something that we use in our everyday life whether we realized it or not. An everyday activity that we use science is cooking. We may boil water for cook potatoes or make soup, we may freeze water to make ice cube for our drinks. We add salt in our food for flavoring as well. Cooking isn’t the only time we use science, we use in the winter as well, especially when we salt the road. Knowing these science concepts are important because it will help us understand not just science, but how our world works.