Activity 1: Scientific Method and States of Matter

Three Experimental Questions to Answers:

1. Does hot water or cold water freeze faster?
2. Does hot water or cold water boil faster?
3. Does salt water freeze faster or slower than regular water?

Experiment Materials and Setup:

1. Does hot water or cold water freezer faster?

I first filled a liquid measuring cup with 1 cup of cold water and 1 cup of hot water.

Cold water set up before freezing.

Warm water set up before freezing.

I then used a thermometer to tell the temperature of the cold water and hot water before freezing it. 

 

Then I poured the cold water and hot water into bowels in order for them to go into the freezer.

I then took note of the temperature of the freezer.

I then place the bowels of cold water and hot water in the freezer for an hour. Also I used my cellphone has a timer.

 

Cold water after freezing.

Hot water after freezing.

Then I took the bowels of cold and hot water out of the freezer to see which one was more frozen. I also used the thermometer to see which one was cold than the other.

 

2.  Does hot water or cold water boil faster?

I first filled a liquid measuring cup with 1 cup of cold water.

 

I then used a thermometer to tell the temperature of the cold water before boiling it.







Next I put the 1 cup of cold water into a covered sauce pan. I set the temperature of the stove on high and set my cell phone as a timer to see how long it took to boil the cold water.





Once the cold water was boiling I poured it back into the liquid measuring cup and read the temperature of the water by using the thermometer.

I first filled a liquid measuring cup with 1 cup of hot water.

I then used a thermometer to read the temperature of the hot water before boiling it.

Next I put 1 cup of hot water into a covered sauce pan. I set the temperature of the stove on high and used my cellphone has a timer to time how long the hot water took to boil.

Once the hot water was boiling I poured it back into the liquid measuring cup and read the temperature of the water by using a thermometer.

 

Each of these steps where carried out three different times for the most accurate results.

 

3.  Does salt water freeze faster or slow than regular water?

                                                                                                           



I first filled a liquid measuring cup with 1 cup of regular water.

Then I filled a liquid measuring cup with 1 cup of water again. Also I added salt to it.

Then I poured the regular water and salt water into bowels in order for them to go into the freezer.

I then took note of the temperature of the freezer.

I then placed the bowels of regular water and salt water in the freezer for an hour. Also I used my cellphone has a timer.

Regular water after freezing.

Salt water after freezing.

Then I took the bowels of regular water and salt water out of the freezer to see which one was more frozen than the other. I also used the thermometer to see which was colder than the other.

 

Each of these steps where carried out three different times for the most accurate results.

  

Hypothesis To Questions Posed:

 

1.  Does hot water or cold water freeze faster? 

Hypothesis: Cold water will freeze faster due to being more similar in temperature to the solid form of water.

2.  Does hot water or cold water boil faster?

Hypothesis: Hot water will boil faster due to being more similar in temperature to the liquid form of water.

3.  Does salt water freeze faster or slower than regular water?

Hypothesis: Salt water will freeze slower than regular water due to adding an extra element.



 

Data:

1. Does hot water or cold water freeze faster?

 

Cold Water Freezing
Temperature Before    Freezing:	Temperature After Freezing:	Temperature of Freezer:	Total Freezing Time:
33 °F	6°F	4°F	1 hour
35°F	4°F	4°F	1 hour
32°F	3°F	4°F	1 hour

Hot Water Freezing
Temperature Before Freezing:	Temperature After Freezing:	Temperature of Freezer:	Total Freezing Time:
71 °F	10°F	4°F	1 hour
73°F	9°F	4°F	1 hour
69°F	7°F	4°F	1 hour

Reproducibility: This experiment got close to the same results each time. Each time the cold water seem to more frozen than the hot water.

 

2.  Does hot water or cold water boil faster?

 

Boiling Cold Water
Temperature Before Boiling:	Temperature After Boiling:	Total Boiling Time:
32°F	176°F	3 minutes and 15 seconds
34°F	180°F	3 minutes and 11 seconds
29°F	174°F	3 minutes and 23 seconds

 

Boiling Hot Water
Temperature Before Boiling:	Temperature After Boiling:	Total Boiling Time:
70°F	210°F	2 minutes and 54 seconds
74°F	216°F	2 minutes and 47 seconds
77°F	223°F	2 minutes and 41 seconds

Reproducibility: This experiment resulted with the same results pretty much very time. Hot water boils faster than cold water every time. Hot water boil between 2 minutes and 41 seconds and 2 minutes 54 seconds. The cold water seemed to take just few seconds long through. Cold water boiled between 3 minutes and 11 seconds to 3 minutes and 23 seconds.

 

3.  Does salt water freeze faster or slower than regular water?

Regular Water Freezing
Temperature Before Freezing:	Temperature After Freezing:	Temperature of Freezer:	Total Freezing Time:
52 °F	7°F	4°F	1 hour
56°F	8°F	4°F	1 hour
55°F	7°F	4°F	1 hour

 

Salt Water Freezing
Temperature Before Freezing:	Temperature After Freezing:	Temperature of Freezer:	Total Freezing Time:
51 °F	10°F	4°F	1 hour
53°F	8°F	4°F	1 hour
57°F	11°F	4°F	1 hour

Reproducibility: The experiment shows the same results every time. The experiment shows that salt was does freeze slower than regular water. The regular and salt water was similar in temperature before being frozen. Also the temperatures ranged differently between the two. Regular water was more solid than salt water each time as well.

 

Theory That Answers Questions Posed:

Water reacts to its environment based on what temperature it is and elements that are within it.

 

Controlled Variable for Experiment

• Measuring one cup of liquid water for each experiment.
• Maintaining the same instrument (liquid measuring cup) used for measuring the water.
• Remaining with the same total freezing time (1 hour) for experiments utilizing freezing.
• Continuing to use the same instrument (sauce pan) when heating up water for experiments.
• Using the same instrument to heat up water (gas stove) with experiments regarding boiling water.
• Sustaining the same instrument (freezer) to freeze water with experiments that used freezing.
• Using the same instrument (thermometer) to measure temperature for each experiment.
•  Having the same bowels for holding cups of water while cups of water were in the freezer.
• Measuring time with the same instrument (cellphone stop watch) for each experiment.
• Using the same facet for water for each experiment. 

 

Image of The Atoms That Make Up Water Modules:

 

 

Video Of How Water Molecules Are Arranged In The Three States Of Matter For Water

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCL8zqjXbME

 





Scientific Method Process:

 

The first step in the scientific method is ask a question. The questions were does hot water or cold freeze faster, does hot water or cold water boil faster, and does salt water freeze faster or slower than regular water. Next you must construct a hypothesis for your experiment. Mine were that cold water will freeze faster due to being more similar in temperature to the solid form of water, hot water will boil faster due to being more similar in temperature to the liquid form of water, and salt water will freeze slower than regular water due to adding an extra element. Then you must test your hypothesis by doing an experiment. I did this through doing different experiments including boiling cold and hot water to see which one boiled faster, freezing regular and salt water to see which froze faster, and then to freeze hot and cold water to see which one froze faster. Next you have to analyze your data and draw a conclusion. I demonstrated this through doing each experiment three different times and organizing information into graphs. I also reflected on my results by proving my hypothesis right.

 

The science process/method is used as a sort of graphic organizer to gain a result from a experiment. In the science process/method the first step is to ask a question. Then you must construct a hypothesis to your experiment or an educated guess on what will happen. The next step would be to test your hypothesis by doing an experiment. After the experiment is done analyzing the data and drawing an conclusion is important by organizing data. The final step would be to reflect back on results to prove if the hypothesis is right. All of these steps help us to answer the questions we have when conducting an experiment in an organized manner.

 

In this experiment I froze hot and cold water to see what would freeze faster, I boiled hot and cold water to see what would boil faster, and froze salt water and regular to see what would freeze faster. All hypotheses ended up being correct that cold water will freeze faster due to being more similar in temperature to the solid form of water, hot water will boil faster due to being more similar in temperature to the liquid form of water, and salt water will freeze slower than regular water due to adding an extra element. My finally conclusion was that water reacts to its environment based on what temperature it is and elements that are within it.

 

Cold water freezes most of the time. But hot water can freeze before cold water though. This is because of the surface area of water will cool by rapid evaporation. Hot water does boil faster than cold water as well. Cold water has to catch up to the temperature of hot water.Which makes sense. Salt water does not freeze as faster as regular water. An example is ocean water, most of the Earth's ocean are not frozen even during the winter. This is because salt lowers the freezing point of water and in addition to salt ocean water deals with a lot more currents and winds than regular (fresh water) does. This helps ocean retrain in more heat than lake or ponds because fresh water is usually more still.

 

 

Citation: Tinopolis Interactive. (2013). Attack of The Undead. Retrieved July 9, 2013, from Science in the News: http://www.scienceinthenews.org.uk/contents/?article=41