Changing the Density of a Liquid: Heating and Cooling

American Chemical Society

Learners investigate how the temperature of water affects its density. Learners place colored hot and cold water in a cup of room-temperature water to see that cold water sinks while hot water floats. Then they will use this experience to suggest how colored hot and cold water should be stacked to prevent mixing. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org. Activity write-up only, images are unavailable.]

Preparation Time:: 5 to 10 minutes
Learning Time:: 10 to 30 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:: $1 - $5 per group of students
Age Range:: Ages 8 - 14
Resource Types:: Activity, Demonstration, Experiment/Lab Activity, Lesson/Lesson Plan
Language:: English

Materials List (per group of students)

Room-temperature water
Hot water (colored yellow)
Cold water (colored blue)
2 Droppers
2 Clear plastic cups
2 Small cups
Water-resistant card
2 Small jars
Coffee stirrer, straw, or spoon
Paper towels
Student Activity Sheet

Keywords

Subjects

Earth and Space Science
- Earth Structure
  - Oceans and Water
Physical Sciences
- Heat and Thermodynamics
  - Heat and Temperature
- States of Matter
  - Liquids
- Structure and Properties of Matter
  - Volume and Density
The Nature of Science
- The Scientific Process
  - Conducting Investigations
  - Gathering Data

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

see
see color
touch

Learning styles supported:

Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

This resource is part of:

Inquiry in Action: Investigating Matter Through Inquiry

Access Rights:

Free access

By:

Kessler, James H. ; Galvan, Patricia M.