LAB E
HEAT TRANSFER
Colourful Convection Current
Purpose
In this investigation you will observe how convection currents occur in water when two different
temperatures of water are mixed at two different settings.
Question
What design of two different temperatures of water in jars that allow the convection to occur?
Hypothesis
State your hypothesis below:
Variables
Independent :
Dependent :
Controlled :
Required Equipment and Supplies
Please, list all the equipment and supplies that you need below.
2 trays
Red and blue food colouring
Stirrer
Water from hot tap (e.g.: in a thermos
flask)
Water from the cold tap at room
temperature (e.g.: in a jug)
Four large identical jars or bottles (or
you may use two jars)
2 pieces of card (the lids used for foil
containers work well)
Preparation and safety
Practise this investigation in a large sink or basin before performing it. If you use glass jars/bottles ensure
that they can be set up and taken down safely without danger of breakages. Alternatively, use plastic
containers.
Procedure
1. Place two jars on a tray.
2. Put a few drops of red dye in one jar and fill it with hot water. Make sure that the water reaches the
open mouth of the jar.
3. Put a few drops of blue dye in another jar and fill it with cold water. Make sure that the water reaches
the open mouth of the jar.
4. Place the piece of card over the mouth of the hot (red) water jar and press firmly in place. Turn this jar
upside down and place it directly on top of the jar of cold (blue) water.
5. Carefully slide the card out from between the two bottles so that their mouths are in contact.
6. Observe what happen to the water in each jar. Describe your observation in the result section.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for the other tray, but this time place the blue jar on top of the red.
Figure 1. Turning the jars upside down and then removing the card. (https://www.zzzicseducation.com.au)
Results and Discussions
Drawing the diagrams
Attach two pictures of your experiment when the hot water is on top and is on the bottom.
Figure 2. Hot water is on top Figure 3. Hot water is on bottom
1. Describe the phenomena that you observed (if any, the motion of the food colouring) when the hot
water is on top and when it is on the bottom!
[2]
2. On your attached pictures or diagrams, draw arrows clearly to indicate the direction of movement to
show the motion of the food colouring (if any). [2]
3. Use the kinetic model (particle theory) to explain this phenomena of convection current.
[2]
4. Why was the food colouring needed in this experiment? And why did we need two different colours?
Explain your reasoning.
[2]
5. Use the diagrams you drew for question 2 to explain how the thermal (heat) energy takes into account
in the convection current.
[2]
6. Describe two safety considerations for this investigation.
1.
2. [2]
Conclusion
Write in a short paragraph how the convection current occurs.
[2]
Reference
https://spark.iop.org/colourful-convection
https://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/category/150-science-experiments/
