Water Olympics: Water Properties Investigation
Name: ______Date: ______
Lab Partners: ______
Objective: To examine the properties of the compound water and relate these properties to the importance of water to living organisms.
Properties of Water:
Property / Definition / Example of Advantage in OrganismsAdhesion
Capillary Action
Cohesion
Expands When Frozen
Floats When Frozen
Hydrogen Bonding
Polarity
Resist Temperature Change
Surface Tension
Universal Solvent
pH of a substance:
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1. When a water molecule splits, what ions does it form?
2. What is the pH scale used for?
3. What is the difference between an acid and a base?
4. What is a neutral substance?
5. Draw a pH scale labeling the strongest acid, the strongest base and the neutral zone.
6. Tomatoes have a pH of approximately 4. Are they acidic or basic? ______Label tomatoes on your pH scale above.
7. Household cleaners that contain ammonia have a pH of approximately 11. Are they acidic or basic? ______Label household cleaners on your pH scale above.
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Pre-lab Questions:
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1. Draw a water molecule. Label each element, show the covalent bonding of the electrons, and indicate the charge on each part of the molecule.
2. Describe what we mean when we call water a polar molecule.
3. Draw 2 water molecules connected by a hydrogen bond .
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Order of Events
1. Tug of war – Pull Team Pull!
2. The Balance Beam – A Penny For Your Thoughts!
3. Dolphin Kick – Bend and Stretch!
4. Slalom Skiing – Weaving In and Out!
5. Breaststroke – The Amazing Water Race!
6. Backstroke – Clipping Along!
7. Parallel Bars (or sometimes know as pH bars)
8. Synchronized Swimming – Solve and Dissolve
9. Water Polo – Waters ABNORMAL Behavior!
EVENT ONE:
Goal: To explain how a balloon is able to bend the stream of water.
Materials: plastic nylon comb, water faucet with running water, latex balloon
Procedure:
1. Inflate the nylon balloon.
2. Turn on the faucet so that the water is coming out at a slow and steady stream.
3. Take the inflated balloon and rub it against your clothes or your hair to create a static charge.
4. Slowly and carefully place the balloon next to the stream of water and draw you observations below.
Sketch a picture of what you saw happening in this activity.
What property of water was demonstrated with this activity? Explain why.
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Check you answers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y8yedQNLFI
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EVENT TWO: The Balance Beam – A Penny for your Thoughts!
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Goal: To get as many drops of water on a penny as you can!!!
Materials: eyedropper, penny, water, towels
Procedure:
1. Predict how many drops you can get on a penny, before it runs over. Record you prediction.
Prediction ______# of drops.
2. Holding the dropper straight up and down, close to, but not touching the penny.
3. Count as you place FULL drops on the penny.
4. Stop when the water spills.
5. Record the number of drops on your score sheet at the end of this lab for both you and your partner. Determine the winner by the person who had more drops.
6. Wipe up area, dry the penny, leave station like you found it!!
What property of water was demonstrated with this activity? Explain why.
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EVENT THREE: Dolphin Kick – Bend and Stretch!
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Goal: To explain why water curves in the container.
Materials: water, test tube, test tube holder, graduated cylinder
Procedures:
1. Fill the test tubes and graduated cylinder with 15 mL of water.
2. Look closely at the water level. Notice the curve at the top of the water.
What is that curve called?
Develop a hypothesis to explain why water forms that curve.
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EVENT FOUR: Slalom Skiing– Weaving In and Out!
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Goal: Observe the absorbency of paper towels.
Materials: 2 brands of paper towels in strips, tall beakers, ruler, colored water.
Procedure:
1. Both you and your partner should each fill a beaker to approximately 50mL of colored water.
2. Hold 1 end of the Brand A paper towel strip and place the other end into the beaker, allowing the paper towel to just touch the surface of the water.
3. Let the towel absorb water until it stops rising.
4. Remove towel and measure the distance the water moved up the paper towel in centimeters.
5. Record the distance the water traveled on your score sheet for both you and your partner. The winner is the person whose water traveled up the paper towel the farthest
6. Repeat steps 1-5 with Brand B paper towel.
7. Clean up area by throwing away towels and wiping up any spills.
What property of water was demonstrated in this activity? Explain why.
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EVENT FIVE:
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Goal: To explain how the water droplet remained intact as it moved through the maze.
Materials: wax paper, wax maze, tape, eye dropper, toothpick, liquid soup
Predict: How far can you stretch the drop of water? Record your prediction on the scoreboard.
Procedures:
1. Tape a piece of wax paper on top of the maze.
2. Place a water drop small enough to fit inside the circle on your paper.
3. Move the water drop through the maze with a toothpick. If the drop separates, go back and collect it before continuing.
4. Time how long it takes to move the drop through the maze.
What 2 properties of water are demonstrated in this activity? Explain why.
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EVENT SIX: Backstroke – Clipping Along!
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Goal: To float as many paper clips on a water surface as possible.
Materials: cups, water, paper clips, plastic forks, liquid soap
Procedure:
1. YOU MUST USE A DRY PAPER CLIP AND THE WATER IN THE CUP MUST BE STILL FOR THIS EVENT TO WORK.
2. If it’s not done already, fill the plastic cup with water to within 0.5 inch of the top.
3. Use a plastic fork to place a paper clip horizontally on the surface of the water in the plastic cup without the paper clip sinking to the bottom.
4. Repeat for as many paper clips as you can have floating at the same time.
5. Record your total number of floating paper clips on the score sheet at the end of this lab for both you and your partner. The winner is the person with the most floating paper clips.
6. Dry the paper clips.
7. Repeat step 2.
8. Add two drops of liquid soap and stir with fork to mix completely.
9. Repeat steps 3 - 6
10. Dry the paper clips and put them back in the container.
What property of water is demonstrated in this activity? Explain why.
Explain how certain living organisms use this property to their advantage.
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What happened to the paper clip when you added the soap? Explain why in terms of either adhesion, cohesion, or surface tension.
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EVENT SEVEN: Parallel bars (or sometimes known as pH bars!!)
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Goal: To determine if a liquid is water by testing the pH.
Materials: beakers containing clear liquids, pH strips
Procedure:
1. Tear 1 strip of pH paper in half.
2. Using the forceps, place the pH paper in 1of the liquids.
3. Allow the pH strip to dry for a second or two.
4. Determine the pH of the liquid by using the scale provided on the pH paper bottle
5. Use the other half of the pH strip for the next liquid
6. Put the used pH strips in the plastic “trash” container at this station
7. Record your results:
Liquid A ______
Liquid B ______
Liquid C ______
Liquid D______
Which liquid is water? ______How do you know (and not by smell)?
Which liquids were acids?
Which liquids were bases?
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EVENT EIGHT: Synchronized Swimming – Solve and Dissolve
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Goal: To understand how substances dissolve in water.
Materials: water in beakers, salt, sand, stirrers
Procedure:
1. Do this event with your partner as a group.
2. Pour approximately 100 mL of water into both beakers.
3. Place 2.5 grams of Substance A into one cup and stir for at least 15 seconds.
4. Place 8-10 grams of Substance B into the other cup of water and stir for at least 15 seconds.
5. Clean up your area by rinsing both beakers in the bucket of water provided. DO NOT PUT ANY OF THESE SUBSTANCES DOWN THE SINK DRAIN. Dry both beakers and stirrers and return them to the table.
Explain what happened in both beakers in terms of dissolving.
Substance A:
SubstanceB:
Was water the solute or solvent in this event?
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EVENT NINE: Water Polo – Waters ABNORMAL Behavior!
Goal: To observe the abnormal behavior of water.
Materials: large beaker (1000 mL), thermometer , crushed ice, 2-hole rubber stopper, salt, fine glass tubing, water, ruler, 250 mL flask, ring stand, transparent tape, adjustable clamp
Procedure:
1. The apparatus as shown to the right will already be setup for you. Copy the table below into your Interactive Notebook to record your results.
Time (min) / Level of water (mm)1
2
3
4
.
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2. Every minute, note and record the level of the water in the tube.
3. Stir the ice-salt-water mixture from time to time to make it as cold as possible.
4. Continue to take readings until the temperature of the water is 0 degrees Celsius.
5. Remove the flask from the mixture. Let it warm up. Note and record the level of the water in the tube every minute. Continue until the temperature of the water is back up near room temperature.
Describe what happens to the volume of water as the temperature drops to 0 degrees Celsius.
What happens to the density of water as the temperature drops to 0 degrees Celsius?
What is abnormal about the behaviour of water?
SCOREBOARD
Event 2:The Balance Beam
(# of drops) / Event 4:
Slalom Skiing
(Height in cm)
Brand A Brand B / Event 6:
Backstroke
(# of clips)
Your Score
Your Partner’s Score
Winner
Who was the overall winner for the water Olympics lab? ______
Water Olympics Conclusion Questions
Answer the following questions in complete sentences that rephrase the question. Failure to answer questions properly will result in re-writing the ENTIRE lab.
1. Choose one event in which you witnessed surface tension. Explain in detail what happened in this event. Use words like hydrogen bonding, cohesion, adhesion, and surface tension in your answer.
2. In the slalom event, what factors might have caused the differences in the distance the water traveled between the two brands of paper towels? Use words like hydrogen bonding, charge, and adhesion in your answer.
3. Why is water able to dissolve some substances and not others?
4. If water did not have this abnormal behaviour, fish could not live in ponds and lakes in areas where freezing occurs. Why?
5. Which property of water do you find most interesting and why? First explain the property and then provide explanation for your choice.
6. What would life be like without water? Give 3 examples to support your answer.
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