What Melts Ice The Fastest? Sugar/salt/sand/pepper?
It shouldn’t take you all that long to do a simple version of this experiment for your project. And if you only need to turn in a description of the procedure you are going to use, that’s even easier, and you can get an idea by reading through this.
If you don’t already have a given format to follow to describe your procedure, I would suggest you start with a statement of the project and what you are trying to figure out. Then you make a guess as to what you think your answer will be–that’s called a hypothesis–(your guess). Which of the substances do you think will melt ice fastest and why? DO you know anything about the 4 substances chemically that might make a difference?
Now describe what you plan to do: For example, get four ice cubes similar in size/shape and set them in 4 separate dishes (or you can use paper towels to set them on). Sprinkle each ice cube with a 1/2 tsp. Of a substance (one with sugar, the next with salt, next with sand, next with pepper. Write down the starting time on a piece of paper. Leave them out at room temperature for 20 minutes and check on them. Which one is melting fastest? Can you see a difference? Write down the time you observed and what you saw. Leave them for another 20 minutes. Again record the time and your observations.
You need to do the experiment or project to have something to write down as far as what you observed, but you can lay out your paper like this.
1)Describe the experiment – what you are trying to figure out/what question you are tyring to answer with this experiment
2) state your hypothesis (what you expect will happen–what your guess is).
2) Describe your procedures.
3) Describe your observations in detail, and the times you observed, and what was occurring.
4) Write the conclusion: (Which substance, if any seemed to melt the ice fastest? Why does that substance lower the melting point of ice?)
5) Explain what happened. Say what you know about the substance that melted the ice the fastest that might be the reason it did so. Was there a chemical reaction that caused it? What is that chemical reaction? Is the substance water soluble (dissolves in water) and is it possible some of the water molecules in the ice are being displaced by the ones dissolving into the water/ice? Does one of the water soluble substances have a “heavier” molecule that seems to displace the water /ice molecules faster?
6) write a short conclusion telling if your hypothesis (guess) was right or not and why it was or wasn’t
Good luck!
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