Measuring the Surface Tension of Water

Anum Arshad

Measuring Surface Tension of Water

By: Anum Arshad January 13th, 2012 Honors Chemistry Period 2

Table of Contents
Title Abstract Introduction Statement of Problem Hypothesis Review of Literature Sources Variables Materials Procedures Data Analysis Conclusion Recommendations Appendices Acknowledgements 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Abstract
With this science fair project, I will be studying the chemistry of surface tension by measuring how many drops of water a penny can hold when the water has different concentrations of salt. My hypothesis was that the salt will affect surface tension by increasing it a little bit, which would let more water droplets fit on the penny. My results were that the water with more salt dissolved in it, was able to stick to the penny longer. In conclusion, my project proves that adding salt to water increases surface tension.

Introduction
During this project, my goal was to test if salt affected the surface tension of water by allowing more water to fit on the penny. I will complete my goal by having a control (which will have no salt), and by having different concentrations of salt water to test on a penny. I will repeat the experiment five times to get accurate results. I also researched surface tension and what affects it, and I got some interesting results that state that salt could increase surface tension a bit more than when it is just plain water. Many other compounds can affect the waters surface tension depending on what kind of substance it is.

Statement of Problem
Will salt water have more or less surface tension than plain tap water? Does surface tension continue to change as more salt is added?

Hypothesis
My hypothesis is that if more salt is added to water, then it will have an increased surface tension which will keep on increasing when more salt is added.

Review of Literature
In source one; the author states that surface tension can be affected by the different substances that are mixed in with the water. It also said that when salt is mixed with water, the surface tension increases by a small amount. There are also solutions known as surfactants, which is an acronym for SURface ACTive AgeNT. These surfactants must have a water attracting part (ionic or polar) and a water repelling part (hydrocarbon or fluorocarbon); soap is a good example. In source two, it said that Surface tension is a measurement of the cohesive energy present at an interface. The molecules of a liquid attract each other. This means that the water is attracted together so it forms a bond creating surface tension, and if you add something to the water it will affect the surface tension. In source three, it stated that water sticks together because of the hydrogen being attracted to the water molecules causing hydrogen bonding. It also says that in the liquid state, the molecules have too much energy to become locked into a fixed placement. Even though that is the case, the numerous temporary "hydrogen bonds" between molecules make water a sticky fluid. In source four, it states that when table salt is added to water, the partial charges on the water molecule are attracted to the Na+ and Clions. The water molecules work their way into the crystal structure and between the individual ions, surrounding them and slowly dissolving the salt. This will cause the water to bond differently, which will create more surface tension.
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Sources Cited
1) Calder, Vince. "Changing Surface Tension." NEWTON, Ask a Scientist at Argonne National Labs! Argonne National Laboratory. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem03/chem03058.ht m>. 2) Carpi, Anthony. "Water." Visionlearning. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid =57>. 3) "Sticky Water: Surface Tension | Exploratorium." Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/bubbles/sticky_water.html >. 4) "Surface Tension." Attension - Precision Made Simple. Biolin Scientific. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. <http://www.attension.com/surface-tension.aspx>.

Variables
In this project, I had one control and 5 different salt water solutions with increased concentrations of salt. My control was plain tap water to test the basic surface tension of water. My five different salt water solutions started at 6 grams and increased by 6 grams, until I reached the solubility of 36 grams. For each solution I used 100 milliliters and mixed in the salt until it dissolved. My variables were: the control, which was 100 milliliters of plain tap water, solution 1 with 6 grams of salt dissolved in 100 milliliters of tap water, solution 2 with 12 grams of salt dissolved in 100 milliliters of tap water, solution 3 with 18 grams of salt dissolved in 100 milliliters of tap water, solution 4 with 24 grams of salt dissolved in 100 milliliters of tap water, solution 5 with 30 grams of salt dissolved in 100 milliliters of tap water, and solution 6 with 36 grams of salt dissolved in 100 milliliters of tap water, which was maximum solubility at room temperature.

Materials
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 6 plastic bowls labeled with the different solutions Water Salt Dropper 6 pennies Measuring cup Measuring spoons

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Procedures
1) Fill the dropper with 4 milliliters of the solution 2) Holding the transfer pipette close to the surface of the penny, carefully pipet water droplets onto the penny, one at a time, counting each drop. 3) Stop pipetting when the droplet on the penny breaks up and overflows. 4) Look at the pipette after the penny breaks up and overflows and see how much liquid is left. Subtract how much liquid is left from the original 4 milliliters. The count for each trial is the milliliters of solution that could be held by the penny. 5) Repeat the measurement five times for each solution that you test.

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Data
How many milliliters of solution can the penny hold? Test 1 Control 1.0 mL Solution 1 1.2 mL (6 grams of salt) Solution 2 1.3 mL (12 grams of salt) Solution 3 1.2 mL (18 grams of salt) Solution 4 1.4 mL (24 grams of salt) Solution 5 1.2 mL (30 grams of salt) Solution 6 1.3 mL (36 grams of salt) Test 2 1.1 mL 1.3 mL Test 3 1.1 mL 1.2 mL Test 4 1.0 mL 1.1 mL Test 5 1.0 mL 1.4 mL Average 1.04 mL 1.24 mL

1.4 mL

1.2 mL

1.3 mL

1.3 mL

1.3 mL

1.3 mL

1.4 mL

1.2 mL

1.3 mL

1.28 mL

1.4 mL

1.3 mL

1.2 mL

1.2 mL

1.3 mL

1.3 mL

1.2 mL

1.4 mL

1.2 mL

1.26 mL

1.2 mL

1.2 mL

1.3 mL

1.4 mL

1.28 mL

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Analysis
Average of Each Solution
2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Average

The graph shows that the salt water solutions held more milliliters than the plain tap water, but it did not increase per increase of salt. After the first two solutions, the milliliters didnt increase, but stayed around the same general area.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, surface tension is affected by the addition of salt to the water, but the surface tension only changes in the first two solutions and then stays in the same area. This means that after a certain amount of salt is added, the surface tension starts to remain in the same area. My hypothesis was not correct, because I stated that the surface tension would keep on increasing when more salt was added, but after solution two the milliliters stayed in the same area. Another question I could ask is how different solutions, such as different household surfactants like soap, could affect the surface tension of water.

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Recommendations
This project could have been completed in a better fashion, if I could find specific information on the relation between salt water and surface tension. It could have also been better if the water temperature was measured to make sure it was room temperature, which would help the solubility of the salt.

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Appendices
Appendices are attached.

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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my father for helping me conduct the experiment and help me create and measure the solutions.

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