SCIENCE ACTIVITY
By Farouq Hassanali
Rationale:
- to model aspects of the molecular kinetic theory
as it relates to phase changes
Materials:
- blow dryer; small Styrofoam balls; glass punchbowl
or wire basket
Procedure:
- place Styrofoam balls into glass punchbowl; the
Styrofoam balls will represent particles of water while the blow dryer will
represent a heat source; currently the particles are in a solid state; turn on
blow dryer so that the Styrofoam balls begin to move around in the punchbowl;
the particles are now in a liquid state; set the blow dryer to a high setting
and aim directly inside the punchbowl so that the Styrofoam balls begin to fly
away; the particles are now in a gaseous state; the liquid has undergone
evaporation due to the particles having gained enough thermal energy to
“escape”
Rationale:
- to demonstrate that a decrease in volume causes an
increase in the frequency of collisions
Materials:
- pingpong ball and paddle
Procedure:
- the pingpong ball represents a particle; drop the
pingpong ball on a table and as it bounces lower the paddle onto it so that the
ball hits the paddle with increasing frequency; this simply demonstrates that
as the volume decreases (lowering the paddle) there is an increase in the
frequency of collisions of particles (the pingpong ball hitting the table and
paddle)