Matter Experiments

We are learning about Matter during science. We have done 3 cool experiments so far.

Mixing Solid and Liquid

Students experimented with adding drops of liquid (vinegar) to solids (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda). They used a pipette (dropper) to drop a little liquid at a time. We took time to observe and record what happened.  The most exciting step was watching the gas bubbles created when the vinegar was added to the baking soda.





Balloon Blow-Up

Our next experiment was to see if we could harness the gas created by mixing vinegar and baking soda and use it to inflate a balloon.  It worked! We tied off the balloon and noticed that the gas was very dense because the balloon dropped quickly to the table compared to a balloon filled with air. We also observed that some liquid was carried into the balloon with the gas and it felt very cold when we passed around the balloon.

Before: Vinegar is in the bottle, baking soda is in the dangling balloon.
After- When we tilted up the balloon and the baking soda dropped into the vinegar it formed a gas that inflated the balloon!

 

Adding and Removing Heat

For our final experiement we predicted what would happen to a few solids if we added heat.  The solids we experimented with were chocolate, ice, and mini marshmallows.  We heated water and poured it into a bowl to make a double-boiler. Then we placed the solids in a bowl and observed them. Our water was about 120 degrees Farenheit. This amount of heat was enough to melt the ice and soften the chocolate.  Next Mrs. Fox took the chocolate and marshmallow bowls to the microwave to see if adding more heat would change the solids. We concluded that if enough heat is added, most solids will melt into a liquid.

For the second part of our experiement we predicted what would happen if we removed heat from a liquid.  We put 2 containers of  water in places where we thought they might be cold…the freezer and outside.

Water on the left…ice on the right

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