Final experiment ^^ - 27 March 2013

Today, we did the final experiment today and we succeeded!

The liquids used were:

1. Syrup
2. Chocolate milk
3. Dishwashing liquid
4. Coloured water (Pink)
5. Vegetable oil
6. Coloured disinfectant

The solids used were:

1. Peanut shells
2. Coloured straws
3. Seashells
4. Toothpicks wrapped with paper and string
5. Spring
6. Candlewick 
7. Nails
8. Green beans

This was how we did it.

Since we knew that the nails/screws sank all the way at the bottom, we added in them first before pouring in the syrup (green). Then we added in the green beans.

Next, we added in dishwashing liquid (Mama Lemon). The colour of the liquid was noticable as it was neon yellow in colour.

 Next, we added in water. To distinguish water from other liquids, we added pink colouring to it.










Afterwards, we poured in vegetable oil. It was pleasant to the eye as it gave off a golden hue. It was also translucent and the solids that were floating in it were very noticeable as compared to the other liquids.

 We then added candlewicks which seemed to float on oil at first. We later discovered that it was slowly sinking to float on the chocolate milk. The sinking was due to the small amount of cardboard on it which absorbed some of the liquid and thus sank.

 This is the side view of the bottle after adding the candlewicks in.

Later, we added in coloured straws (white, green & red) after pouring in disinfectant alcohol. Since the disinfectant alcohol was colourless, we added red and green colouring. As a result, we have red wine coloured disinfectant.

As you can see, the straws slowly sink and most of it can be seen already. 

This is our final Density Ladder!

Updates

So our experiments with alcohol (beer) failed the previous time we tried it because it was miscible in water. This time, we tried using vinegar and the results were similar. Vinegar was also miscible in water. Thus, we'll be trying rubbing alcohol this time round. Hopefully it works! ^^

Experiments and more research

Back with updates from my group members ^^

Wai Nam and Min Hui have done some research and found similar results.

After their research, they went on to try out on the liquids and solids they have at home.

This was Min Hui's tryout on the density ladder.

From bottom to top, the liquids used were honey, milk, tap water (green colouring was added) and vegetable oil. The solids used were pencil lead, toothpick and a small part of a straw (transparent). The pencil lead sank in oil but floats on water while the toothpick sank in water. The piece of straw floats at the very top of the density ladder. Yes, we've noticed that we can barely see the straw. Thus in our final piece, we're using a coloured straw so that it would be able to stand out.

Next is Wai Nam's tryout on the density ladder.

The liquids used, not in any order, are oil, dishwasher soap, milk and water (coloured as well) and syrup. The solids used were rubber band and eraser. The coloured water and oil were not really distinguishable because the colouring that Wai Nam added to the water has a similar shade of brownish yellow, like the oil. The eraser sank all the way to bottom while the rubber band suspended between liquids.

After some discussion, we were thinking of using alcohol in our density ladder as well but after experimenting, we realised that the alcohol mixed in with water and we couldn't find another liquid which density is between water and alcohol. We also intend to use shampoo. As of now, we know that shampoo is denser than water. We will be experimenting the shampoo with other liquids as well.

Lastly, this is the rough sketch Min Hui came up with for our density ladder with the solids and liquids we've experimented with.

Some examples

Here are some of the examples I've found on the net, though not all of the liquids used may be found in our households.
Density video
Image example one
Image example 2
I hope these will be of some help in our project ^^;;

It's up!

Hey guys! The blog is finally up. I'll be in charge of this blog unless anyone one of you wanted to take over. I'm gonna keep this blog open for the sake of those who don't have an account here. If you've done any experiments or research, text/Whatsapp me the detail and I'll post it up on your behalf. You may include photos and website links etc. I hope the instructions are made clear for you! Do ask if you have any questions ^^ -Arina ^^