Ice Cube Melting

1. Ice Cube Melting 11-28-09 Science Fair Challenge to Excellence

2. Big Question • What substance will melt ice faster: sugar, salt, or pepper? I chose this experiment because I always wonder what I should use to melt ice on the roads. I know we use salt, but what if it’d be quicker to use sugar or pepper.

3. Hypothesis Hypothesis My hypothesis is that salt will melt ice faster because to melt ice on the streets, they use salt. I am not positive salt will melt ice faster because I am using table salt, not the rock salt which they use to melt ice on the roads. My hypothesis is that salt will melt ice faster because to melt ice on the streets, they use salt. I am not positive salt will melt ice faster because I am using table salt, not the rock salt which they use to melt ice on the roads

4. Rock salt doesn’t work well below 22 degrees F Most people use rock salt for their drive ways Did you know…… Did you know….. • Rock salt doesn’t work well below 22 degrees F • Most people use rock salt for their drive ways

5. Materials 6 ice cubes 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper Timer Gram scale Procedure Gather materials and place an ice cube on the scale. Weigh the ice cube by itself. Add a substance on the ice cube and set the timer for 5 minutes When the timer goes off, take off substance and weigh again to see how many grams it melted. Write down data and repeat steps 1-4 to make sure data is correct. Write down data and communicate results. Experiment • Variables • Salt • Sugar • Pepper

6. Observations • After the 5 minutes, the sugar forms clumps on the ice • Most of my ice cubes weighed the same(12 grams) • In order to get the exact weight, the ice cube must be in the middle of the scale • As the ice cube melted, the sugar and salt stuck toit

7. Data

8. Analysis of Data This experiment tested my hypothesis. I know that because it did test if salt melted ice fastest and it did. I learned that sugar could also melt ice and pepper didn’t do anything to it.

9. Conclusion • My hypothesis was correct because salt melted ice the fastest • In my experiment, I would change some of the substances because pepper didn’t melt at all. I want to know what does melt ice. • Some new questions I have are: • Will breadcrumbs melt ice? • What liquid melts ice fastest? • Can salt melt a popsicle?

10. References References • http://www.infoplease.com/cig/science-fair-projects/substance-melts-ice-fastest.html • about.com • sciencebuddies.com • http://www.infoplease.com/cig/science-fair-projects/substance-melts-ice-fastest.html • about.com • sciencebuddies.com