Bonus Take Home Lab #1

Take Home Lab Bonus #1:  Tissue in a Cup: How Soggy?

Question: Have you washed any cups or glasses recently? Have you ever tried to submerge an inverted glass, jar, or cup into water only to have it bob back to the surface without the inside getting wet? What does this have to do with chemistry? You will find out as you investigate several aspects of this phenomenon through this activity.

Safety: Clean up any spills immediately, be careful of push pin and nail

Materials: clear glass or plastic cup, paper cup, tissues or paper towels, push pin or nail, ice cold water, very hot tap water, 2 containers to completely submerge the cups (preferably clear)

Procedure:

STEP 1:  Fill one large container with ice-cold water. Fill the second large container with very hot tap water. Submerge an inverted clear cup or glass in the cold water for several minutes and observe from the side. Remove the cup from the cold water and, taking care not to burn yourself, submerge the inverted cup in the hot water for several minutes and observe as before. Repeat the submersion in cold and then hot water. Record your observations. Explain any differences in your observations of the cup in cold and hot water. Draw a picture to show the difference between the hot and cold water.

STEP 2: Using any of the materials listed above, devise a way to submerge a tissue or paper towel under water without getting it wet. Briefly outline your procedure and draw a labeled picture to illustrate what you observed. What kept your tissue from becoming wet?

STEP 3: Using any of the materials listed above, devise a way to submerge a tissue or paper towel under water without getting it wet. Briefly outline your procedure and draw a labeled picture to illustrate what you observed. What kept your tissue from becoming wet?

Observations:

Step 1:  Cold water container—

 Hot water container—

Step 2:  Tissue in the cup—

Step 3:  Paper cup with hole--

               

Diagrams w/ labels explaining the parts:

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Post-Lab Questions:

1. What happened to the air in the submerged cups?

2. How was the hot water result different from the cold water? Why do you think this is?

3.  Did your tissue paper get wet? Why or why not?

4. What did you do right, what did you do wrong?