Properties of Water Lab

What happened in this lab?

Station One

Penny & Water

Properties shown:

• Adhesion: Water sticks to the penny:

• Cohesion: Water sticks to water to

give the bubble effect and allow so

much water to fit in a tiny space.

Station Two

Wax Paper & Water & OilProperties of water shown:

• Water is polar and wax is nonpolar (remember like

only dissolves like) so the water just sits on the wax

paper like a bead, when you drag them together

they form a big bubble (cohesion: water sticking to

water)

• Oil is non-polar and so is wax, like dissolves like, so

the oil dissolves through the paper, does not show

the same properties as the water.

Station Three

Paper Clip in Water & Add Soap

Properties of water shown:

Paper clip floats because cohesion (water

sticking to water) allows for surface tension

to form.

Paper clip sinks because the soap is non-

polar and breaks the hydrogen bonds in

water. (no more surface tension).

Station Four

Ice in Water & Alcohol

Properties of water shown:

• Ice floats in water because it is less dense than water.

• Ice sinks in alcohol because it is more dense than

alcohol.

• Fish can survive in the water because ice floats in

water and insulates the bottom of the pond. (high

specific heat: hydrogen bonds resist extreme changes

in temp).

Station Five

Capillary Tube & Red Water

Properties of water shown:

Adhesion: The water rises up in the tube by

sticking to the sides of the tube. This is how a

tree moves water from the ground to its

leaves.

Cohesion: As the water sticks to the sides of

the tube, it pulls more water with it

Station Six

Water & Alcohol with Sugar & Salt

Properties of water shown:

Water is a solvent and it is polar so it

dissolves the sugar and the salt very well.

Alcohol is less polar than water so it is not

as good as a solvent as water is, so the

solutes do not dissolve in alcohol.