EXPERIMENT 2

NAME / TITLE Suspended Egg

TOPIC Density
LEARNING OBJECTIVE To investigate the densities of an egg after and before
adding te salt into the water.
KEY SCIENCE CONCEPTS / MAIN Density: the degree of compactness of a substance
MESSAGES
MATERIALS 1.glass jar or tall drinking glass
2.water
3.raw egg
4.teaspoon
5.salt
WHAT TO DO ? 1.Half fill the glass jar with water.
2.Use the teaspoon to gently lower the egg into the water.
3.Observe whether the egg floats or sinks.
4.Use the teaspoon to remove the egg from the water.
5.Add 3 teaspoons of salt to the water, stirring thoroughly
until the water becomes less cloudy.
6.Use the teaspoon to gently lower the egg into the salty
water and the egg should now float. If the egg doesn't float,
remove the egg, add more salt to the water and try floating
the egg again.
7.Now the egg is floating, very carefully add fresh water to
the glass by pouring water over the back of the teaspoon
and down the side of the glass. Don’t allow the fresh water
and salt water to mix.
WHAT HAPPENS ? The egg sinks in fresh water because the egg has a higher
density than the water. Salt water has a higher density
than fresh water. The egg floats in the salt water because
it is less dense than the salt water.
SCIENCE EXPLANATION Density is a measure of how much mass is in a given
volume. Density affects buoyancy. Buoyancy is the
upward force a fluid exerts on an object that is less
dense than the fluid. An object will sink if its weight is
more than the buoyant force, and an object will float if
its weight is less than the buoyant force.
The egg has a higher density than the fresh water and
the egg’s weight is greater than the buoyant force.
Therefore the egg sinks in the fresh water. When salt
is added to the water, it increases the density of the
water. If enough salt is added, the egg becomes less
dense than the salt water and its weight becomes less
than the buoyant force. Therefore the egg floats in
salt water.
Because fresh water is less dense than salt water, the
fresh water floats on top of the salt water. The egg
floats between the fresh water and the salt water
because the egg’s density is between the densities of
fresh water and salt water.