Week 11 Blog Post

 

In lab this week, we were able to observe a lot of different stations that have little mini-activities that draws some predictions and finding answers. Here are my notations from each station titled with the activity. 

Plunger Push 

-How can you explain what happened? 

When the plunger was stuck onto the table, it was very resistant and difficult to pull back up. It glided a little bit, which helped us regain control of the plunger and release from the table. When it was stuck onto the cardboard, little suction happened and did not stay onto the cardboard. I'm certain it's because of the hard services that do not have a lot of air inside. 

-What questions does this raise for you? 

Why does the plunger only stick to certain services but not certain lose services like cardboard? Why does it stick so well to tabletops and counters? 

Melting Ice 

I predict that the ice cube will melt faster on the wooden service because the metal pan may be a little cold, rather than the wood being warmer like room-temperature. Wood is able to absorb water, too. 

-How can you explain what happened? 

After setting one ice cube to both services, I noticed right away that the ice in the metal pan was melting quicker, which proves my prediction incorrect. The ice in the pan melted within 2 minutes, meanwhile after 5 minutes, the ice cube on the wooden piece is still in tack and mostly unharmed. 

-What questions does this raise for you? 

I figured since the metal felt colder it would not melt the ice cube nearly as fast, how does it melt the ice so quicker even though it's much colder than the wood piece? 

Coke Float 

I predict that the bigger soda cans would sink, rather than the smaller ones which will float. 

-How can you explain what happened? 

Both of the little cans and the big Diet Coke floated. The only one to sink was the big can of regular Coke. Interesting that it was only one big can to sink. 

-What questions does this raise for you? 

Why does the big can of Diet Coke float, and the regular Coke does not? It's confusing because the small can of regular Coke floated too. 

Baking Soda & Vinegar 

I predict that the bag will start to inflate with air and turn into a bubble-like baggie when mixing the two. 

-How can you explain what happened? 

When the two were immediately ziplocked, it started bubbling up and fizzing, inflating a bit with air inside the baggie. Similarly like I predicted, however I wasn't expecting it to react the way it did. Additionally, the liquid in the baggie had a very cold touch to it after it reacted. The vinegar is warm when we added it.

-What questions does this raise for you? 

Why doesn't the bag explode? How does the air contain inside of the zip lock baggie? Would more of each ingredient cause a more intense reaction? How does the vinegar and baking soda get so cold in the baggie? 

M&Ms in Water 

I think that the darker colors are going to come off more quicker than the lighter colors on the M&M's. 

-How can you explain what happened? 

The colors started to come off of the M&Ms and create a pattern to the middle of the plate. My prediction was correct as the darker colors were more prone to coming off the M&M quicker than the lighter ones like yellow. They are not necessarily mixing very well, more or so creating their own color sections. 

-What questions does this raise for you? 

Why won't the colors mix together once coming off of the M&Ms? Do the darker color M&Ms have more color added to them then the light color ones? 

Cold Soda

I predict that once we wipe off the soda cans to make it cry, we will start to see some condensation form around the can. This could also be termed as "sweating". 

-What can you explain what happened? 

Nothing really happened with this observation. I was not able to locate any condensation after a few minutes, which proves my prediction incorrect. 

-What questions does this raise for you? 

Did the first group doing this station have a different finding than we did? Was the cans too cold to form any condensation? Were they too warm?