Activity 2 Water and Its Properties

NAME:_________________________________YR AND SEC.
:____________________________
Activity 2
Water and Its Properties
I. Surface Tension of Water
A. Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the property of the surface tension of water.
This will look at the way that water sticks to itself to make a rounded shape, the way that water behaves
as a “skin” at the surface, and a comparison of water’s surface tension with two other liquids, oil and
soapy water.
B. Materials
• 3 pennies
• Available water
• Small containers of water, oil, and soapy water
• A dropper for each of the containers
• A square, about 4” x 4”, of wax paper
C. Procedures :
*Please document your performance of the experiment by taking pictures.
Counting Drops on a Penny
1. Check to make sure all of the materials needed are ready.
2. Using a medicine dropper containing only water, count the number of drops of water that you can
balance on top of a penny. When the water falls off of the penny, record the number of drops. Wipe the
water off of the penny.
3. Repeat this procedure of counting and recording drops with oil and then with the soapy water.
Comparing the Shape of a Drop
4. Drop a small sample of each of the liquids––water, oil, and soapy water––on the wax paper. Observe
the shape and label the shape of the drops made by each of the liquids. Wipe off the wax paper.
5. Answer the questions on your worksheet.

Drops of Water
Fill in the table below with the number of drops you added to the penny of each substance before the
liquid spilled over.
Water Oil Soapy Water

Number of Drops
Questions
1. What does a high surface tension do to the number of liquid molecules that can stay together?
2. Based on your evidence, compare the surface tension of these four substances.
3. After placing a few drops of each of the liquids on the wax paper, paste a photo of what the drops
look like from the side view. Be sure to capture the relative height/flatness of the drop
Water Oil Soapy Water

II. Adhesion and Cohesion
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the cohesion and adhesion properties of water.
• Cohesion is the molecular attraction exerted between molecules that are the same, such as water
molecules.
• Adhesion is the molecular attraction exerted between unlike substances in contact. Cohesion causes
water to form drops, surface tension causes them to be nearly spherical, and adhesion keeps the drops
in place (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhesion).
This experiment will work with string to see the rate at which water is able to “climb” up the string.
This is very similar to the way that water enters a plant and travels upward in the small tubes
throughout the plant’s body. The “stickiness” of the water molecule allows the water to cling to the
surface of the string.
1. Start with one cup filled with 5 tablespoons of water and one cup empty. Cut a length of string about
24″ (61 cm) long. Hold one end of the string and dip the rest into the water to get it wet.
2. Tape the dry end of the string to the inside bottom of the dry cup at the center. Pretty much any type
of tape will work. Press the tape firmly to the cup. Test it with a gentle tug.
3. Add some food coloring to the water. This makes it easier to see what’s happening.
4. Hold the loose end of the string in the water and hold the water cup slightly apart from and above the
dry cup. Keep them far enough apart that the string is as taut as you can make it without pulling off the
tape.
Tilt the water toward the string and slowly pour it out of the cup and down the string.
Keep the string in the bottom cup away from the rim so the water flows into the bottom of the cup.
5. Use a different liquid (5 tablespoons soda) for comparison. Which liquid has the better cohesion?
6. Use different a “string” (24” long shoelace). Which material allows the better adhesion?
Questions:
1. Define adhesion
2. Define cohesion
Water Soda
Time it takes for substance to
be transferred ( in minutes)
String Shoelace
Time it takes for water to be
transferred (in minutes)
4. Based on your evidence, what statement can you make about water’s speed of climbing a string
relative to its diameter?
5. What does this mean about how fast water is able to “climb” tubes within plants?
III. The Heat Capacity of Water
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the heat capacity of water. Specific heat is the amount
of energy required to raise 1.0 gram of a substance 1.0 o C.
Materials:
2 Strings (about 10 inches in length)
2 empty plastic bottles (same kind)
Candle and Match
1. Tie the first empty plastic bottle with the string in an upright position.
2. Light the candle.
3. Suspend the bottle and put the candle below it. Note the time it takes for the bottle to burn.
4. Get the second empty plastic bottle. Fill the bottle with water up to the brim.
5. Tie the filled bottle with the other string; again, in an upright position.
6. Suspend the filled bottle and put the lighted candle below it (same height as the first bottle). Note
the time it takes for the bottle to burn.
Questions
1. Define specific heat.
2. Based on your evidence, which substance has the higher specific heat? The lower? Explain.
3. Think about and explain the relationship between high specific heat of a liquid and hydrogen bonding.
4. How is this important in nature?

IV. Now You See It, Now You Don’t
Purpose
The purpose of this activity is to introduce the idea that different types of liquids may dissolve
different substances.
Materials
• 6 plastic cups
• 6 plastic spoons
• Water
• Oil
• Granulated salt
• Granulated sugar
• Food Color
Procedures
1. Fill 3 plastic cups 1/3 to 1/2 full with water.
2. Fill 3 plastic cups 1/3 to 1/2 full with oil.
3. Put about a half-teaspoon of salt into the water in one cup and another half teaspoon of salt into the
oil in one cup.
4. Stir each for about 20 seconds or until dissolved.
5. Record your observations in the table on your lab sheet.
6. Repeat this procedure with sugar and food color (very minimal amount)
7. Record your observations.
Questions:
A solvent is the liquid that is doing the dissolving. A solute is the substance that will be dissolved in the
liquid. Record your observations about how quickly and thoroughly each of the solutes dissolves in
water and oil in the table below.
Solvent Solute
Salt Sugar Food Color
Water
Oil
1. Summarize what you found in your experiment, based on your recorded observations.
2. Why do you think that some substances dissolve easier in one type of liquid than in another?

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NAME:_________________________________YR AND SEC.

Water and Its Properties

I. Surface Tension of Water

• Small containers of water, oil, and soapy water

• A dropper for each of the containers

• A square, about 4” x 4”, of wax paper

*Please document your performance of the experiment by taking pictures.

Counting Drops on a Penny

1. Check to make sure all of the materials needed are ready.

Comparing the Shape of a Drop

5. Answer the questions on your worksheet.

Water Oil Soapy Water

Water Oil Soapy Water

2 Strings (about 10 inches in length)

2 empty plastic bottles (same kind)

Candle and Match

2. Light the candle.

1. Define specific heat.

4. How is this important in nature?

1. Fill 3 plastic cups 1/3 to 1/2 full with water.

2. Fill 3 plastic cups 1/3 to 1/2 full with oil.

4. Stir each for about 20 seconds or until dissolved.

5. Record your observations in the table on your lab sheet.

7. Record your observations.

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