Fundamental Science
Salt water egg experiment
Result
Some objects float on top of the ocean, and other objects sink to the bottom. Why?
In this salt water egg experiment we can find a solution for this question. It was noted that to make the egg float salt is needed to dissolve into fresh water. When the egg was lowered into the fresh water container it started to sink.
But when salt was added to the container the egg started to float.
Adding salt to the water squishes more molecules into the water. This makes the water denser. When there was no salt in the water, the egg was denser than the water and it sank. Adding salt to the water makes the water denser than the egg which makes the egg float.
When we weigh a cup of saltwater and a cup of fresh water, the saltwater weigh more than the fresh water even though it is taking up the same volume. This is because the saltwater is denser than the fresh water.
Salt water is denser than ordinary tap water, the denser the liquid the easier it is for an object to float in it. When the egg was lowered into the liquid it drops through the normal tap water until it reaches the salty water, at this point the water is dense enough for the egg to float.
To find the density of salt water first measured the mass of salt water after adding salt into 800ml of water. The following results are the density of salt water every time increasing 1 table spoon of salt into 800ml fresh water. One table spoon of salt is also equal to 10g.
Density = Mass Volume
Amount of salt | Density of salt water | 0 spoon1 spoon2 spoon3 spoon4 spoon5 spoon6 spoon | 1.071.091.111.131.151.171.19 |
Discussion
Fresh water is lighter than salt water. Fresh water has a density of 1.0 while salt water has a density of 1.025. From this, we understand that salt water is slightly heavier than fresh water. The ratio between the two is 41:40.Therefore, fresh water "floats" on top of