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Topic 1: Part 4 Testing scientific questions

Introduction

Study of this part should take around 5 hours.

The key concepts and principles you will study in this part are:

the steps involved in the scientific method

how the surface tension of water is formed

the presence of dissolved gases in water.

In answer to the poll question ‘Can you make a hole in water?’ some of you might have opted for one of the following
responses:

‘What do you mean by ‘a hole in water’?’

‘I would blow bubbles of air through the water.’

‘I would create a whirlpool.’

The first response ‘What do you mean by ‘a hole in water’?’ is a good scientific response even though it does not try to
answer the question. The respondents here were attempting to clarify exactly what was being asked and this is good
scientific practice.

When a scientist undertakes an experiment, a process known as the scientific method is followed. One of the key
aspects of the scientific method is that a clear question is asked so that the experiment can be properly designed to
test the question.

In this part of Topic 1 we will start by introducing the main steps to the scientific method. We will then go on to explore
the science of surface tension and bubbles in water. We will investigate how gases can get trapped among water
molecules and we will briefly discuss how opposing currents in water can create huge holes in water.

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying the Introduction.

Introduction to Part 4 2 minutes

4.1 Introducing the scientific method

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the scientific method as ‘a method or procedure that has characterised natural
science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the
formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.’

One list of steps in applying the scientific method might be:

1. Define a question.
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 2. Make
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3. Form a hypothesis that addresses the question. A hypothesis is a statement that can be used to predict the
outcome of future observations, for example ‘If I do this, then this will happen’.
4. Test the hypothesis by designing and performing an experiment, making sure data is collected in a reproducible
way.

5. Analyse and interpret the data.

6. Draw conclusions. Do the observations support your initial hypothesis? If not, amend your hypothesis and go
back to stage 4.
7. Otherwise publish your results.

Re-testing of the hypothesis is often done by other scientists who have read your published results.

Figure 4.1 summarises this ongoing process.

Figure 4.1 A chart showing the scientific method.

As we move through S111, you will be encouraged to question what is happening in experiments and demonstrations,
and to start designing your own experiments to test your ideas and theories.

4.1.1 Practical skill: Writing hypotheses

Writing hypotheses for testing scientific experiments is a key scientific skill because the hypothesis is your educated
guess about how something works. Most importantly it needs to be ‘testable’. A testable hypothesis for an experiment
must be able to test the cause and effect, i.e. what is done and the result of what is being done. So a hypothesis must
include a dependent and an independent variable.

What is the difference between a dependent and an independent variable?

Reveal answer

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You will come across many hypotheses written
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change in a certain dependent variable’. Let’s look at the following testable hypothesis: ‘If I raise the temperature of a
glass of water, then it will increase the amount of sugar that can be dissolved in the water’.

Which is the dependent and the independent variable in an experiment investigating how much sugar can be
dissolved in water when the temperature of the water is raised?

Reveal answer

You should not worry if your observations disagree with your initial hypothesis as you can always go back and amend
your hypothesis. This is how advances in scientific research are made.

Activity 4.1 Writing a hypothesis for Practical 4 Floating in salt water

You should allow 15 minutes for this activity.

In Part 3 you investigated how fresh eggs behave when they are dropped in liquids of different densities. In your
own words write a testable hypothesis for this experiment. You should also identify the dependent and
independent variables. Post a message in your tutor group forum summarising your answers.

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.1.

Section 4.1 Introducing the scientific method 15 minutes

4.2 Is this a hole in water?

Whether or not you can make a hole in water depends to a large extent on how you define a hole. Watch a
demonstration of a simple experiment that appears to make a hole in water by dropping surgical spirit into a thin layer
of water.

Video 4.1 Is this a hole in water? (3:34 min)

In the demonstration you could see how the surgical spirit was breaking the attraction between water molecules and
was pulling them back, creating the optical effect of a ‘hole’. The change in the size of the hole is due to the
evaporation of the surgical spirit. In the next section we will find out more about the property of water responsible for
the strange effect observed, known as surface tension.

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.2.
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Section 4.2 Is this a hole in water? 30 minutes

4.3 What is surface tension?

The water molecules in a glass of water can be said to largely fall into two categories: those on the surface and those
within the body of the water.

From Figure 4.2, you can see that the water molecules deeper within the liquid are being pulled equally in all directions
by the adjacent polar water molecules.

What is the name of the interaction between two adjacent water molecules?

Hide answer

This attraction between adjacent water molecules in liquid water is called hydrogen bonding.

However, the water molecules right at the water–air surface have no water molecules above them pulling them
upwards. The air molecules above the surface are not polar. So the overall effect on these surface water molecules is
that they are both pulled downwards towards the deeper liquid and sideways, which results in a tight surface layer.

Figure 4.2 How surface tension works – the interactions between water molecules within the body and on the surface
of water.

This effect is called surface tension and it gives the water the appearance of a skin on the surface of the water. In
fact, as we will explore in the next section, the water surface actually behaves as if it is a tense skin. The effects of
surface tension are often observable. For example, when water droplets are formed on a leaf, they are nearly spherical
in shape. This is because the water molecules are strongly attracted to each other and only very weakly attracted to
the leaf and the air.

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You may have observed that the upper surface
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the case of water in a glass container, you can observe a concave (curved in) meniscus. This is due to the water
molecules being more strongly attracted to the glass than to each other, causing the liquid to climb the walls of the
container. However, you can also observe a convex (curved out) meniscus for other liquids and surfaces (e.g. mercury
in a glass tube).

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.3.

Section 4.3 What is surface tension?

4.4 Walking on water

The fact that the surface of water behaves as if it has a tense skin can be observed clearly when watching insects
called Gerridae (also called pond skaters) that can walk on the surface of water.

Watch Video 4.2 (Pond skater walking on water, 2011), showing a pond skater walking and hunting on the surface of
water.

Video 4.2 Pond skater walking on water. (1:38 min)

How does the pond skater manage to walk on the surface of the water?

Hide answer

The pond skater’s flexible legs enable its weight to be distributed over a large surface area, so that it can use
surface tension to its advantage. The pond skater is managing to walk on the water’s surface without breaking the
attraction between adjacent water molecules. So it is not breaking the surface skin on the water.

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.4.

Section 4.4 Walking on water

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4.5 Practical 5 Simulating a pond skater
The following experiment should help you to get a better understanding of surface tension and how it enables
creatures to stand on the surface of water. You will investigate how surface tension can be used to rest some objects
on the surface of water. You will record your observations in your notebook and then share and discuss your results
with other students in OpenStudio.

Allow about 30 minutes to carry out this practical.

You will need:

a container to hold some water, with a wide top and not very tall

two paper clips

if available, a small light coin (such as a Japanese yen) or any other light object

tap water

a camera.

Your health and safety:

You should handle glass with care.

What you need to do:

1. Fill the glass with tap water.

2. Very carefully try to place the paper clip on the surface of the water.

3. Repeat this with the coin or other light object.

4. If you were unable to rest objects on the surface of water, try bending a second paper clip at a 90° angle and use
it to place the other paper clip and coin on the surface of water. Use part of the bent clip as a handle and the
other part as a little platform (Figure 4.3). You may want to try other small light objects to see if they will rest on
the surface of the water.

Figure 4.3 A paper clip bent at 90° to form a platform.

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 5. Take
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6. Write down in your notebook what you observed. Try to explain why it happened. How does the water appear
around the objects?

If, for some reason, you cannot carry out this experiment, watch the following video and record observations and
results in your notebook.

Video for Practical 5 Simulating a pond skater.

Why (in terms of water molecules) did the paper clip and any of your other objects stay on the water’s surface?

Hide answer

An object is made to stay on the surface if it is placed on the surface of the water so gently that it does not break the
attraction of adjacent water molecules, thus preserving the tense ‘skin’ on the surface of the water. The water acts
like an elastic material and stretches as objects rest on its surface.

Why do the objects sink when the attraction between the water molecules on the surface is broken?

Hide answer

The objects sink because their density is higher than the density of water.

Activity 4.2 Sharing your results for Practical 5 Simulating a pond skater

You should allow about 15 minutes for this part of the activity.

Now that you have completed the experiment, post your photographs of objects resting on the surface of water
on My Studio Work in OpenStudio.

View postings from other students on My Tutor Group in OpenStudio and comment on at least one posting. Any
surprising floating objects amongst those postings?

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.5.

Section 4.5 Practical 5 Simulating a pond

skater

4.6 Dissolved gases in water

One of the suggestions made in response to the question ‘Can you make a hole in water?’ was ‘I would blow bubbles
of air through the water’. In this section, we shall investigate what bubbles in water are.

You may have already come across some gases found in the Earth’s atmosphere; can you recall what these are and
what their chemical symbols are?

Hide answer

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Nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide all dissolve in water.

Can you think of two variables which could affect the amount of gases dissolved in water?

Hide answer

Both temperature and pressure will affect the amount of gases dissolved in water.

In fact the amount of dissolved gases in water decreases with higher temperature and increases with increasing
pressure.

You might have wondered why your tap water sometimes looks cloudy. This is due to small air bubbles in the water.
Figure 4.4 shows how cloudy tap water clears up after two minutes as the air bubbles rise to the top of the glass and
leave the water. Cloudy tap water usually occurs when it is very cold. It’s also dependent on your tap pressure
(affected by the location of your home in relation to a reservoir) and on local demand for water at the time.

Figure 4.4 Glass of cloudy tap water left standing at room temperature for two minutes.

In Video 4.3 water is being heated up to the boiling point and you can see the formation of two different types of
bubble. When the temperature of the water is way below 100 °C you can see a few small bubbles of dissolved gases
forming along the insides of the glass beaker. Later when the water gets hotter you can see water vapour bubbles
appearing.

Video 4.3 Bubbles in water. (1:57 min)

Inside the heated glass beaker, where can you see water vapour bubbles?

Hide answer

Bubbles of water vapour can be found at the bottom of the heated beaker just before boiling starts. These will
gradually rise in the boiling water and escape from the water surface into the atmosphere.

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eventually disappear as the water vapour inside them condensed. In contrast, bubbles of air don’t shrink in these
conditions.

Many people like carbonated drinks (or soda). How is it possible to increase the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2)
dissolved within carbonated drinks?

Hide answer

Carbonated drinks are canned at low temperature and under pressure in order to increase the CO2 dissolved in
solution.

When you open a can of carbonated drink, the pressure decreases, resulting in a popping sound. As a result of the
decrease in pressure, the solution effervesces and CO2 is bubbled off.

Figure 4.5 Image of sparkling water in a glass.

Oxygen dissolves in water to give a solution that contains the original ‘diatomic’ molecules (O2) trapped among the
water molecules. The prefix ‘di’ means two (e.g. diatomic denotes two atoms). Dissolved oxygen in water is essential
for the survival of fish and aquatic life in general, as you will find when you study Topic 2. Very few organisms are able
to live in the absence of oxygen.

Coal-burning power plants heat water to produce steam which turns turbines to make electricity. After using the
water, it is cooled before being returned to rivers or lakes. Why is it important to cool the water before returning it to
the rivers or lakes?

Hide answer

If the water is returned to the rivers and lakes while it is still heated, it would raise the temperature of the rivers and
lakes and allow the dissolved gases essential for the aquatic life to escape.

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Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.6.

Section 4.6 Dissolved gases in water 40 minutes

4.7 Whirlpools
Another answer to our poll question was ‘I would create a whirlpool’. Video 4.4 shows a whirlpool in action.

Video 4.4 Hole in the ocean. (2:12 min) (Note: there

is no sound in this video.)

A whirlpool is a body of water in circular motion that is produced when opposing currents meet. A whirlpool in an
ocean can be caused by the tides. Most whirlpools are not very powerful. The proper term for any whirlpool that has at
its centre a downdraft (i.e. a small-scale current of sinking air) is a vortex.

Can you think of any whirlpools you may have seen in and around your home?

Hide answer

You can see very small whirlpools when the water in a bath or a sink is draining down the plug hole.

Whirlpools around the home are produced in a different manner to those in nature. The downward flow of the water
into the drain begins to rotate as the water molecules compete to get into the drain and, as the rotation speeds up, a
vortex forms. The water molecules tend to stay on the outer edges of the vortex rather than sinking into the middle
because the water is rotating. Anything that is rotating has a tendency to fly outwards away from the centre of motion.

You can create a vortex in your own home. Watch Video 4.5 which demonstrates how to create a whirlpool using two
plastic bottles.

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Video 4.5 Creating a whirlpool inside a bottle. (0:38
min)

How does the scientist manage to create the whirlpool inside the bottle?

Hide answer

The scientist had to add some spin in order to start the water molecules rotating.

On a larger scale, we can use satellites to see whirlpools (or ‘eddies’) in the oceans. These oceanic eddies are
responsible for the transport of large amounts of water, heat and debris between different areas of the planet and may
have implications for climate change.

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying Section 4.7.

Section 4.7 Whirlpools

Summary of Part 4 Testing scientific questions

If the attraction between water molecules is broken, for example by adding small amounts of alcohol, the water
molecules will be easily pushed back creating space for the alcohol molecules and giving the perception that a ‘hole’ is
made in water. Molecules of gases (such as oxygen) can become trapped among water molecules and we may
consider these bubbles of gas within liquid water as tiny ‘holes’ capable of moving through the solution. Finally in this
part we have also mentioned huge ‘holes’ in oceans responsible for transporting vast amounts of water and heat.

The key concepts and principles you have studied in this part are:

the steps involved in the scientific method

The scientific method is a process by which scientists ask and answer scientific questions.
A hypothesis is an educated guess about how something works.

how the surface tension of water is formed

Surface tension effects are a direct result of the water molecule being polar; water molecules at the surface
of the water are pulled downwards and sideways to make a tight surface layer.

the presence of dissolved gases in water

The amount of dissolved gases increases with increasing pressure and decreases with increasing
temperature.
Dissolved oxygen in water is essential for the survival of fish and aquatic life.

Don’t forget to record how long you spent studying the Summary of Part 4.

Summary of Part 4 Testing scientific questions

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References
Videos

Pond skater walking on water (2011) BBC Two, 10 May [Online]. Available at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gwm9h (Accessed 25 July 2016).

Hole in the ocean (2012) YouTube video [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XMd8AnEJBA

(Accessed 25 July 2016).

Now move on to Topic 1: Summary and reflection.

Topic 1: Part 4 Testing scientific questions Copyright © 2016 The Open University

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