THE PEPPER & SOAP

EXPERIMENT
JENNIFER RAMIREZ
• How does soap break
surface tension?
HYPOTHESIS

• When the pepper comes in contact with hand / dish soap the
pepper flakes will ”run away”.
MATERIAL

• Shallow bowl or dish

• Water
• Black pepper
• Liquid Dish soap
PROCEDURE

• Step 1: Cover the bottom of your shallow dish with water

• Step 2: Sprinkle black pepper across the surface of the water.
• Step 3: Dip the tip of your finger into the liquid Soap.
• Step 4: Stick the finger into the center of the dish.
• Note how the surface tension of the water causes the pepper
Flakes to float.
• Dish soap is formulated to break the surface tension of water,
which is why it is so effective on greas, dirty dishes, and germs.
• We can see how surface tension In the water works when we
touch it will out soapy finger. Soap breaks down the surface
tension of the water. Pepper is hydrophobic, meaning it
repels water.  Because there is surface tension on the top of
the water, the pepper floats on the top of the water and
doesn’t soak up any of the water.