STEM Fair Project

STEM Fair Project

How does the density of a liquidaffect how fast an object sinks in it?

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

AbstractPurpose: The purpose of my experiment was to find out if a penny would sink faster in liquids with less or more density.

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Question: Will a penny sink in a more dense liquid or a less dense liquid?How I did it: I took a glass container and in 3 different liquids, of different densities, dropped a penny in and measured how long it took the penny to fall to the bottom for each liquid.What I Learned: I found that the penny sank in the liquid with the least density.Conclusion: The lighter the density of a liquid, the faster an object will sink in it.

Table of Contents

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

(1) Question(2) Variables(3) Hypothesis(4) Research(5) What I Used (6) How I did the experiment(7) Data Analysis(8)Conclusion(9)Bibliography

STEM Fair ProjectQuestion

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

How does the density of a liquidaffect how fast an object sinks in it?

STEM Fair ProjectVariables

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

IndependentWaterPaint ThinnerSyrup Dependent

The rate at which a penny will sink Controlled

Glass ContainerPenny

STEM Fair ProjectHypothesis (What I think will

Happen)

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

The sinking object (penny) will sink to the bottom of the glass container faster in liquids that are of less density than liquids that have more density.

STEM Fair ProjectResearch

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

What is density?

how much difference in the weight of two objects of the same size

STEM Fair ProjectMore Research

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

The most important parts of my research were :(A) Selection of the test liquids – I had to pick liquids that had different densities so that I could see the difference with how the penny would sink.

(B) Selection of the sinking object – I picked the penny as my sinking object because its density was greater than any of our test liquids, but close to that of the test liquids. This allowed my object to sink at a rate that could be measured in seconds.

STEM Fair ProjectBackground Research (cont.)

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

The most important parts of my research were as follows:(C) The molasses was too dark to see the penny when it was dropped

into it – I replaced syrup for the molasses because syrup was lighter in color compared to molasses and the penny could be seen as it sank in the syrup.

STEM Fair ProjectMaterials List

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

(1) Pennies(2) Glass container(3) Stop watch(4) Pencil(5) Paper(6) Water (test liquid#1)(7) Paint thinner (test liquid#2)(8) Syrup (test liquid#3)

STEM Fair ProjectExperimental Procedures

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

(1) Gather the materials for the experiment.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)

(2) Gather the materials needed to measure andcompile the data to be collected during the experiment.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)(3) Pick the person who will drop the

penny in the liquid.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)

(4) Pick the person who will start and stop the stopwatch.

STEM Fair ProjectExperimental Procedures

(cont.)

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

(5) Pick the person to write down how long it took for the penny to sink to the bottom of the glass container

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)(6) Create the data table to record the data.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)(7) Mark of the glass container to know

how far to fill the glass container.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)(8) Fill the glass container with “test

liquid #1”, to the mark on the container.

STEM Fair ProjectExperimental Procedures

(cont.)

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

(9) Drop the penny into the liquid and start the stopwatch.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)

(10) Stop the stopwatch once the penny touches the bottom of the container.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Experimental Procedures (cont.)(11) Write down the time, from the

stopwatch, onto the data table.

STEM Fair ProjectExperimental Procedures

(cont.)

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

(13) Empty the container, clean the container and dry it.(14) Repeat all of the steps for each liquid.

(12) Perform the experiment 3 times in this liquid. Find theaverage time it took for the penny to reach the

bottom,for this liquid.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Data Analysis

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

ConclusionAfter the experiment I learned that the penny sank faster in liquid of less density compared to the liquids of heavier density. Liquid #3 (syrup) had the heaviest density and Liquid #2 (paint thinner) was the lightest. The penny sank to the bottom of the glass container three times faster in paint thinner.

Therefore, it was concluded that my hypothesis was correct. The penny sank to the bottom of the glass container faster in the liquid that had the least density.

STEM Fair Project

Alexis Denny – 3rd Grade – Ms. Daskivich – Northview Elementary School

Michael Padilla, Prentice Hall Science Explorer: Earth’s Waters. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006

Michael Padilla, Prentice Hall Science Explorer: Earth’s Waters. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006

Michael Padilla, Prentice Hall Science Explorer: Earth’s Waters. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006

Rinehart and Winston Hall, Science Spectrum: Physical Approach. Holt McDougal, 2000

Bibliography