Name ______Date ______

“The News is in the Paper” Labby Jim Ronda

Question: How is it possible that your pencil point and a diamond are both made of the same element (carbon)? ______

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Objective: Discover how the internal arrangement of newsprint determines its characteristics.

Materials: several sheets newspaper pen, pencil

beaker of water eye dropper

metric ruler magnifying glass

Part 1 Directions

1) Tear the newspaper into several sheets about the size of loose-leaf paper.

2) Fill the dropper about halfway and squeeze out the water onto the newspaper.

3) Draw a pen line around the water, being careful not to touch the water with the pen. Try to stay at least 1/8 inch away.

4) Allow the water to spread for ten seconds and then draw a second line around the water, again making sure not to let your pen touch it.

5) Repeat this procedure until you have drawn a total of six oval shaped figures.

6) Carefully pour any remaining water back into the beaker.

7) Using your ruler, measure the maximum and minimum diameters of the ovals to the nearest tenth of a centimeter and record your data on the data table.

9) Graph the data with “Time” as the independent variable (x-axis) and “Diameter” as the dependent variable (y-axis). Label one line of points “Maximum Diameter” and the other line “Minimum Diameter”. Make sure to include a title.

Time (sec) / Maximum Diameter (cm) / Minimum Diameter (cm)
0 (start)
10
20
30
40
50

Conclusion: Based on your observations and data, describe how the water is spreading. ______

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Part 2 Directions

Next you will tear newspaper in different directions and make observations. First tear it parallel to the text, then perpendicular to the text and then diagonally. Carefully look at the way the paper tore. Did it tear straight or uneven? Which was easiest to tear?

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Then use your magnifying glass to look along the edge of each of the tears. Describe what do you observe? Do all three look the same? If not, how are they different?

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Wrap-up:

1) Is the way the water spreads on newspaper related to the way the paper tears? How?

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2) What does this suggest about the way the fibers of newspaper are arranged?

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3) How do you think we will relate this lab to the study of minerals?

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