Density tower

In this experiment, when we add same amount (same volume) of different liquids they
will have different weights because they have different masses. The liquids that weigh
more (have a higher density) will sink below the liquids that weigh less (have a lower
density).

The same principle goes for the small objects that you drop into your density tower.
The metal bolt is denser than all the liquids in the tower and therefore sinks directly at
the bottom.  If another object is denser than one liquid layer and less dense than water
will settle on the top of the layer of water.

Analyze where do the objects float and why!

Items Needed

 Object
 Salt
 Water
 Glass
Instructions

1. Fill a tall glass about 3/4 full of water

2. Place the object into the glass of watch and watch it sink
3. Fill another tall glass about 3/4 full of water
4. Add 3 Tablespoons of Salt and stir until combined
5. Place the object into the glass and watch it float
Temperature influence on density

Question & hypothesis: Does temperature change the density of water? Write down
what you think will happen when you mix cold water and hot water.

What You Do:

1. Fill two beakers with 150 ml (2/3 cup) of water. Put several drops of blue food
coloring in one beaker, and several drops of red in the second.
2. Add a handful of ice to the blue water and put it in the refrigerator for a few
minutes. Put the red beaker in the microwave for a minute.
3. Take the blue beaker out of the fridge and the red beaker out of the microwave.
Pour some of the blue water into the 10 ml graduated cylinder or narrow glass.
Using a pipet, slowly add red water a drop at a time and watch what happens.
Hold the pipet near the surface of the water and keep trying until you get it!)

Conclusions: Was your prediction right? What happened to the colored water? Did it
stay in layers? Which layer was on the bottom? On the top? What does this tell you
about the density of hot water compared to cold water? What would happen if you left
the cylinder out until the cold water warmed up and the hot water cooled off? Do more
experimentation to find out!

Salty or Sweet

Now you know that temperature can affect the density of water. In this part of the
experiment, test to see if adding salt or sugar will make water more dense.
Question & hypothesis: Will adding salt make water more dense? Will adding sugar
make water more dense? Which is denser, sugar water or salt water? Write down what
you think will happen to the density of water if you add salt or sugar.

What You Do:

1. Fill three beakers with 150 ml (2/3 cup) of water. Add food coloring to make blue,
red, and green water.
2. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the red beaker and stir until the salt is dissolved. Add
2 teaspoons of sugar to the blue water and stir until it is dissolved.
3. Try putting a raisin in each of the beakers. Does it float? Remove the raisins with
a spoon.
4. Pour some of the red (salty) water into the graduated cylinder. Using the pipet,
slowly add the blue (sugar) water one or two drops at a time. Record which sinks
to the bottom and which floats on top.
5. Add the green (pure) water drop-by-drop to the other two and record what
happens.

Conclusions: Were your predictions correct? Did adding salt and sugar to the water
make the water more dense or less dense? Which was more dense, the salt water or
the sugar water?

SCIENCE BEHIND FLUID PAINTING

Although Paint Pouring and Fluid Painting has exploded in popularity quite recently,
the technique itself has been around since the 1930’s. A Mexican artist (and political
activist) by the name of David Alfaro Siqueiros stumbled across this technique in his
studio which he described as “accidental painting” When a denser fluid rest atop a
less dense one, the top fluid wants to move downward, causing the two fluids to mix.
Different colors of paint have different densities because of the varying compounds
used to make pigments…

…In physics, this battle between densities is called a Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and it
crops up in a number of areas outside of art. In astrophysics, for instance, exploding
stars expel gases of varying densities, leading to the formation of Rayleigh-Taylor
“fingers.” Some are heavier such as metals and some are from plant matter such as
flowers or resins. When the pigments are all mixed with a similar fluid medium so that
the pigments are similarly suspended and allowed to interact, the various pigments
push and pull against each-other and some rise to the top and some sink to the
bottom. Depending on viscosity and amount, they move around, sometimes mix, but
most often, if left to do their thing, they rise and sink creating the appearance of cells
or bursted bubbles on the canvas.

Capillary action
The water appears to defy gravity, but it in reality it moves because of a process called
capillary action. The adhesive forces between the water and the paper towel are
stronger than the cohesive forces inside the water. As a result, the water travels up and
across the paper towel out of one glass and into another

Adhesion of water to the walls of a vessel will cause an upward force on the liquid at the
edges and result in a meniscus which turns upward. The surface tension acts to hold
the surface intact. Capillary action occurs when the adhesion to the walls is stronger
than the cohesive forces between the liquid molecules.