What Substance Melts Ice The Best Essay

What Substance Melts Ice The Best? Essay, Research Paper

OBJECTIVE The objective for my project was to simply find out what the best substance for melting ice was. I used 5 substances traditionally used for melting ice in everyday life. For example, table salt. I made this into an experiment that shows how well and how fast the ice melted, and also, how much residue was left over after the experiment was completed. APPARATUS These are the materials I used to perform my experiment. Most of these things can be found in any local store. + 5 aluminum pie pans + water to fill each pan + 2 tablespoons of table salt + 2 tablespoons of sand + 2 tablespoons of kitty-litter + 2 tablespoons of safety salt + 2 tablespoons of common driveway pellets + Film + A camera EXPERIMENT This experiment involves leaving the pans in a cold environment for 24 hours after pouring the substances onto them. Then recording the results, for the amount of ice left, if the water reformed into ice, and the amount of the original substance left over at the end of the experiment. PROCEDURE Step 1: Pour an equal amount of water into each pie pan, then let freeze for two days. Step 2: Once there is ice in the pans, place the substances in different pans, and record by taking pictures. Step 3: Leave for 24 hours. Step 4: Take pictures of the pans again, record with pictures and perform observations. (** NOTE: this must be done when the temperature stays near the same levels for 24 H.) HYPOTHESIS I believe that there will be three substances that will melt ice the best. I believe that the sand, the safety salt, and the driveway pellets will work the best out of all five substances over a period of 24 hours. I believe this because city work crews all over the world use these types of substances in their daily street clearing efforts. MORE ON THE APPARATUS ICE: Ice, as most people know, is frozen water. Cold temperatures cause it to form. It naturally forms on lakes, rivers, streams, and when it is extremely cold, even in the ocean. Snow, sleet, hail, and frost are all examples of ice in various forms, as well as the huge glaciers leftover from the ice age. Ice forms when the temperature of pure water is below 0.C (32.F). The only way ice won t freeze at this temperature is if the ice is diluted with another substance such as alcohol, salt or sugar. With substances like this in it, the ice will freeze at a lower temperature. The actual temperature is determined by the amount of “other” substances in the ice. Most substances contract as they get colder. Water on the other hand, only contracts until it reaches 4.C. As it freezes, water expands in volume by about 1/11 of the original water. i.e. when 11cmX of water is put into a freezer, it will come out 12cmX of ice. The molecules of unfrozen water are close together. They move about fast and randomly. As water freezes the molecules move further away and move slower. Such expansion may cause pipes to burst in the wintertime. Expansion also makes ice lighter than water. And that is why ice floats when it is in your drink. Ice begins to melt as soon as the temperature around it reaches 0.C. Since ancient times people have used ice. The first manufactured ice was in the USA in 1851. Today the industry sells 19 million cubic tons of ice a year. Every day ice is used to do things in your life. It chills your drinks, and it keeps your food from spoiling. Ice is used for lots of things, it s not just a winter annoyance. SALT: People use salt all the time. We add it to almost everything we eat; meat, vegetables, even bread and cake. Salt brings out the flavour in foods, but it does a lot more than that. It keeps water in our bodies. And as most people will know, the body is 2/3 made up of water. Even animals know they need salt to stay alive. They find salty rocks and plants to lick. Farmers give cattle big blocks of salt called salt licks, and sometimes farmers mix that in with the animal s food. Our blood, heart, and tears have salt in them. If you taste a tear you will find it tastes salty. People who do not eat enough salt will become unable to complete everyday tasks. Sometimes if the problem becomes too serious, they may die. Every day, people lose salt and water from their bodies. Sweating is one of the ways the salt and water gets out. People who work hard in the sun will sweat a lot and in turn will lose a lot of water and salt. The only way to replenish the loss is to eat. Some workers even take salt tablets. Athletes sometimes will takes these pills as well.

Older people need less salt than younger people, and some people can t put any salt into their bodies because they have too much water in their bodies. Today salt doesn t cost very much, but a long time ago it was very expensive and hard to get. Traders in India became rich from thier salt mines. They sold the salt to people in other countries, and in ancient Greece people used salt as money. Salt is not a food, it is a mineral. The scientific name for it is sodium chloride. Salt is found in two places on this planet. In the ground, and in the water. Large beds of salt lie deep in the earth, these beds are called salt deposits. These deposits are found worldwide, and sometimes they can be as much as 3,000 feet deep or more. In the world s oceans, there is enough salt to cover the USA 17 times. Salt is divided into two types, table salt, and coarse salt. Table salt is the small granules used in food, and coarse