Praxis: Melt that pesky ice without turning up the heat

By Patty Rooks on January 25, 2020.

praxis@praxismh.ca@PraxisMedHat

I am extremely happy this week with the much warmer weather. It appears as if I am slowly starting to defrost! What is not thawing out though is that dreadful buildup of ice EVERYWHERE. Quite a number of people I know have fallen and hurt themselves. Of course, this has made me think of ways to get rid of that ice rather quickly if at all possible? Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– four clear drinking glasses or shallow bowls

– measuring cups

– measuring spoons

– salt

– sand

– sugar

– water

– ice cubes

– marker

– masking tape

– timer

– science notebook

Procedure

1. Using the masking tape and marker, label each of your four glasses: Salt; Sugar; Sand; Control.

2. Place one ice cube in the bowl labelled salt.

3. Sprinkle 15 ml (one teaspoon) of salt over the first ice cube. Start the timer.

4. Once the ice cube has completely melted, record your results in your science notebook.

5. Repeat with the sugar; sand and control. Record your results each time.

What is going on?

In this science project, you were able to investigate different substances in order to see how they affect how fast the ice will melt. I chose several easy to find and inexpensive substances. There is nothing wrong with this at all. You will learn that often things labelled with “fancy” names are common household ingredients or things we may have on hand already. You were able to test substances such as salt and sugar which are soluble in water as well as insoluble substances such as sand.

What were your results? Which substances melted the ice the fastest?

Can you think of any other substances to try?

Did you know that you could make this into a great science fair project – if you need help send me an email and I would be happy to share my Science Fair How To Manual!!

Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

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