Will it dissolve?

This term our theme is all about mysterious materials. As part of our science lessons we have been learning all about materials that dissolve. We decide that we would conduct a fair test to find out what substance would dissolve quickest. Read our experiment below.

Question:

Which substance -from a range we have chosen- will dissolve in cold water?

Prediction:

We predict that the sugar will dissolve in cold water the fastest because we have it in our tea.

What you will need:

*water (100ml)

*sand

*soil

*sugar

*salt

*beakers/cups

*measuring spoon

Method:

1)First, gather all the equipment you need.

2) Carefully measure 100ml of water and then pour it into the beakers; this should mean you have 4 beakers with 100ml of water.

3) Slowly, take the measuring spoon and pour the substance into the beakers. This needs to be repeated for each item you want to test.

4) Quickly, stir the solution for 1minute and 30 seconds.

Fair test:

To make sure it is a fair test we will use the same type of cup. Also we will stir the solution for the same amount of time. Additionally, we will use 1 measuring spoon of each substance. Not only that, we will use the same amount of water accurately measuring 100ml.

Variables:

In this experiment there are a number of things that will change including the types of substance we want to experiment with.

Results:

After a while, we realised that the sugar and the salt dissolved; we couldn’t see it anymore. Sadly, the Sand didn’t dissolve. Manasvi thinks this is because sand is just crushed up stones and pebbles. Surprisingly, we think some of the soil did dissolve, but we need to prove it.

Conclusion:

Our predication was correct because the sugar did dissolve. If we could do it all again there are a number of things we would change including:

• the amount of water we used- we would use more.
• the temperature of the water; we were wondering if warm water would dissolve the substances faster.
• the amount of sand, soil, sugar and salt we used. Could we have used a smaller amount and then compared the results?