Vibrating (jiggling) molecules can move up, down and around
The purpose of this simple experiment is for students to determine the relationship between temperature and speed of molecules in a liquid.
QUESTION
EXPERIMENT
PROBLEM QUESTIONS:
Students will use water & food dye to discover more about 'jiggling' and heat: Source
Think about what you are going to do, then write down a prediction about how you think the temperature of water might make a difference when food dye is dropped into the water
Materials you’ll need:
Method to conduct the experiment:
Perform your experiment, then write down your results in a table similar to this:
Question | Results (write down what you found) |
---|---|
Which of the three jars holds the warmest water | |
Which of the three jars holds the coldest water | |
Which of the three jars spreads the food colour fastest | |
Which of the three jars spreads the food colour slowest |
Discuss the results that you wrote into your table.
Using your results, discuss the result that you observed and what they might show about heat.
Can you use your own/other evidence to help convince the class that molecules move slower/same/faster when they are warmer, slower/same/faster when they are colder, or move the same amount when warmer as they do when cooler.