HARDNESS OF BRICKS

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the hardness of the bricks, we used the water absorption method to find how much
water the said bricks could absorb.

In theory, the bricks closest in distance from the source of heat/fire in the baking process are the
hardest, and in turn absorb the least water and vice versa. This means after soaking the bricks in
water for at least 24 hours, the bricks that are heaviest in terms of mass are the bricks farthest in
distance from the source of heat/fire and the bricks that are the least heaviest are the bricks closest
in distance from the source of heat/fire.

For this experiment, we decided to use the water displacement method, where to find the mass of
an irregular object, the water displaced after placing said object in a measuring apparatus equates to
the mass of the irregular object. In this case we would be measuring how much water is absorbed or
“displaced” by the bricks.

HYPOTHESIS

Our hypothesis is that the closer in distance of a brick from a source of heat/fire in baking process,
the more water is “displaced”.

NOTES

Absorption Experiment was conducted in our school’s Biology laboratory.

Heights are labeled as following:

X-

Y-

Z-

C-

With varying widths 1,2,3 from each label X,Y,Z, and C. 1 being the ___ and 3 being the ___ from the
source of heat/fire.
PROCEDURE:

1. We measured the mass of each brick with a kitchen scale.

INITIAL MASS OF BRICKS

X Y Z C

2. We filled 1,5 litres (L) of tap water inside 12 transparent plastic bags with the help of the
apparatus such as measuring cylinders (to measure 1,5 L of water).
3. We placed one brick in each of the 12 plastic bags.
4. The bricks were then left overnight to soak in the plastic bags filled with water for at least 24
hours.
5. The following day, we transferred the water into measuring cylinders to measure the
remaining water left after the bricks have absorbed the water.

RESULT

Water remaining (mL)

X Y Z C

1 651 1,089 1,076 645

2 640 1,120 1,112 615

3 821 1,328 1,113 630

By measuring the remaining water left in the plastic bags, we could then calculate how much water
have been absorbed by the bricks, in other words the water displaced using the formula:

Water absorbed = 1,500 mL – Water remaining

Absorption of Water (mL)

X Y Z C

1 849 411 424 855

2 860 380 388 885

3 679 172 387 870

By calculating how much water have been absorbed by each brick, we could then calculate the mass
of the bricks after going through the absorption test by converting milli-litres (mL) of water into
grams (gr) and add the calculated grams of water to the initial mass of each brick.

So, Mass of brick (after) = Initial mass of brick(gr) + Water absorbed (mL converted to gr) with note
that 1 mL = 1 gr.

MASS OF BRICKS (AFTER) (

X Y Z C

3
CONCLUSION