LABORATORY ACTIVITY 1: DO AND SEE THE SURFACE TENSION

OBJECTIVE: To observe surface tension in water.

MATERIALS: a 25 – centavo coin, a medicine dropper, water, a piece of tissue and a 2x2 piece
of wax paper.

PROCEDURE:
A. 25 – CENTAVO COIN
1. Place the clean, dry coin float on the table over a piece of dry tissue paper.
2. With dropper, carefully put water on the coin, adding little by little until it reaches the
maximum amount that the coin’s surface can hold without spilling.

QUESTION:
1. Describe the shape of the water on top of the coin. (5 points)
When we fill the coin with water, the water on the top of the 25 – centavo coin
formed a dome – like shape. This dome-like shape forms due to the water molecules’
cohesive properties, or their tendency to stick to one another.

2. What property of the liquid is shown? Why? (5 points)

This cohesion property results in surface tension. Because water molecules at the
surface of the water puddle attract more to one other than they do to the air molecules
above them, they cling together and form a dome shape on the coin. Surface tension
prevents the water molecules from falling out and spilling.

B. WAX PAPER
1. Place two to three drops of water on the piece of wax paper.

QUESTION:
1. Describe the shape of the drops. (5 points)
Just like the first example, the shape of the drops is like a dome.

2. What explanation can you give for the shape of water drops? (5 points)
Water molecules has a positive charge and the other has a negative charge. This
means that water molecules are attracted to other molecules which have either a
positive or negative charge, as well as to themselves. That is why the water sticks in
the wax paper.

LABORATORY ACTIVITY 2: VISCOSITY OF LIQUID

OBJECTIVE: To compare the viscosity of three liquids.

To determine the viscosity of sample liquids.

MATERIALS: Clean and dry marble, a 50 ml graduated cylinder, timer, water, cooking oil and
corn syrup (substitute for pancake syrup).

PROCEDURE:
1. Fill the graduated cylinder with water up to 25 ml.
2. Drop the marble into the water. Use a timer to record the time it takes for the marble to
reach the bottom.
3. Repeat step two more times to make three trials. Record the marble’s travel time in each
trial.
4. Remove the marble and the water from the cylinder and dry both.
5. Repeat steps 1 and 4 and use pancake syrup instead of water.
6. Wash and dry the cylinder and the marble.
7. Repeat 1 and 4 and use cooking oil.
 8. Wash and dry the cylinder and the marble.
QUESTIONS:
1. In which did the marble take a longest time to reach the bottom? (5 points)

Type of Liquid 1st Trial 2nd Trial 3rd Trial

Water 0.22 seconds 0.18 seconds 0.15 seconds
Corn Syrup 4.51 seconds 4.62 seconds 4.78 seconds
Cooking Oil 1.00 seconds 0.90 seconds 0.53 seconds
As per the data collected, the liquid with the longest time to reach the bottom is the Corn
Syrup during our 3rd trial, which obtained the time of 7.78 seconds.

2. How would you rank the liquids in order of decreasing viscosity? (5 points)
The ranking would be:
First – Corn Syrup
Second – Cooking Oil
Third - Water

3. What explanation can you give for the observed viscosities? (5 points)
The more viscous the liquid, the more time the marble takes to reach the bottom of the
container.

LABORATORY ACTIVITY 3: CAPILLARY ACTION IN COLORS!

OBJECTIVE: To model capillary action using paper towels and water.

MATERIALS: 3 empty short glasses, 2 cups water, 2 colors of food coloring, such as yellow
and blue, 2 paper towels.

PROCEDURE:
1. First, fill two glasses with 1 cup water each.
2. Next, add 4 drops of one color, of food coloring to one glass and 4 drops of the other
food coloring to the other glass. This will help you observe the capillary action easier.
3. Now fold each of your paper towels vertically in half twice, so you have two long, skinny
paper towels.
4. Put one end in the colored water and one end in the empty glass.
5. Repeat step 4, for the other paper towel and colored water.
6. Watch the glasses and see what happens.

QUESTIONS:
1. Describe what happen in the paper towel and water. (10 points)
When we put the one end of the tissue on the first beaker (blue) and the other end of the
tissue on the second beaker (yellow), we observed that the liquid is rising upwards.

2. What property of liquid shown? Why? (10 points)

The water appears to defy gravity, but it moves because of a process called capillary
action. The adhesive forces between the water and the paper towel are stronger than the
cohesive forces inside the water. As a result, the water travels up and across the paper
towel out of one beaker and into another.

Submitted by:

Clarence M. Bautista
Ashlee M. Navarro Submitted to:
12 - Orsolin
Ms. Rochelle De Leon
Subject Teacher, GC12