100 points + BRAINLEST ! *NO SPAM *
Groundwater Activity: Properties of Water Lab Report
Introduction
Water is an essential part of processes on Earth. In this lab, you will investigate the properties of water and explain how they affect Earth's material and surface processes.
Investigative Phenomenon:
What are the connections between the properties of water and their effects on Earth materials and surface processes?
Materials:
water
stopwatch
a clean penny
food coloring
vegetable oil
clear plastic cups
dropper or pipette
ice cube
black pepper
a bowl
dish soap
sponge or cloth
a heating source (sunlight, lamp, etc.) or a cooling source (refrigerator)
one balloon
measuring tape or string and a ruler
thermometer
Activity One: Investigating Cohesion
Cohesion is the ability of molecules to bind together. One way to test this is by investigating how the droplets of a particular liquid stick together compared to other liquids. Use the materials you have to determine water’s relative cohesion on a particular surface.
Describe the plan you will follow to determine this:
Record your data and observations:
Phenomena Reflective Question: How does the cohesive property of water come into play with it interacts with Earth materials?
Activity Two: Investigating Surface Tension
Surface tension is a property of a liquid that allows the surface to resist force. This means the surface of a liquid resists the weight of objects.
Procedures:
Fill a bowl ¾ full with tap water.
Sprinkle about a teaspoon of ground black pepper in the bowl. DO NOT STIR! Observe what happens to the black pepper.
Gently place your finger into the water and observe what happens.
Put two drops of dish soap on your finger. Gently use your finger to touch the surface of the water and observe what happens.
Data and observations:
Phenomena Reflective Question: How does the surface tension of water allow for it to interact with Earth materials?
Activity Three: Investigating Solubility
A liquid is polar, which means a substance can easily dissolve in it. How can you test water’s polarity compared to other substances? To measure solubility, it is necessary to compare initial and final results using your visual observations.
Describe the plan you will follow to determine this:
Record your data and observations: Add food coloring to each liquid. Observe each reaction and record your observations in the table below.
Phenomena Reflective Question: Explain why water is called a universal solvent. How does this polarity allow for water to interact with Earth materials?
Activity Four: Investigating Specific Heat Capacity
Specific heat is the amount of heat energy needed to change the temperature of 1 gram of the substance one degree Celsius. Some objects' specific heat allows them to heat up or cool down faster than others of equal mass. How can you compare water’s specific heat to other substances? How does the specific heat of water affect how other objects, such as a damp cloth, warm up or cool down? To measure specific heat, it is necessary to compare initial and final results.
Describe the plan you will follow to determine this:
Record your data and observations: Observe the temperature of the damp sponge/cloth after being placed under a heat source. Caution: do not set the damp sponge or cloth to close to the heat source. Record your observations.
Phenomena Reflective Question: How does water’s specific heat capacity come into play when it interacts with Earth materials or affect surface processes?
Activity Five: Investigating Expansion and Density
Density of an object can be found by calculating mass divided by volume. If two objects have the same mass, but one has a greater volume, the object with more volume is less dense. Does water’s density change when it is frozen?
Describe the plan you will follow to determine this:
Record your data and observations:
Phenomenon Reflective Question: Did the density of water change when it changed from solid to liquid? How do you think the density of water has an effect on Earth materials and surface processes?
Evaluating the Design:
Part of an investigation is to evaluation how well your investigation gave you the data you needed. In this report, include the following:
an evaluation of the plan you made for the various activities and how the data was collected
a description of how well the data allowed you to infer the effect of water on materials and processes in the world
3. a description of how to further investigate the effects of water and collect more accurate and precise data
