Pencils Puncture Water Bag Experiment

Conducted by: Sarena Halverson

 Problem/question

+ =

If you poke a hole in a bag of water using a pencil and

leave the pencil in its place, will the water leak out of
the bag?
hypothesis
I predict that once the
pencil punctures the
bag, water will begin
leaking out regardless
of the placement of the
pencil.
 materials
● 3 gallon sized ziplock bags
● 12 sharpened wooden pencils
● 1 gallon of water
● Pencil and paper for recording data
 PROCEDURE
1. Fill bag #1 with 20oz of water.
2. Ensure pencils are sharpened, and puncture 4 pencils
through both sides of bag #1
3. Record data (water leakage, at what point water leaked)
4. Puncture both sides of bag #2 with 4 pencils, and pour
20oz of water into the ziplock bag.
5. Record data (water leakage, at what point water leaked)
6. Puncture one side of bag #3 with 4 pencils, pour in 20oz
of water, then punch the pencils through the remaining
side of the bag.
7. Record data (water leakage, at what point water leaked)
 RESULTS/DATA
Bag Water Leaked (oz)
#1 0oz
#2 0oz
#3 1oz
CONCLUSION
The results of the study provided that as long as the pencil
stayed in the hole made, it would not leak any water out of
the bag, regardless of when the hole was formed in relation
to water application. However, Bag #3 did leak a little
because of the velocity at which one of the pencils was
pushed in. Future studies could include variables such as
different types of plastic bags, different shaped pencils,
and different fluids.