Science Project - 5 Experiments
... first couple of days because salt water was evaporating the quickest but then the tap water and the coke overtook the lead. Overall, this has been an exciting experiment and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys science. I have created a graph which is on the next page which shows the results of this investigation. Investigation Two Can wood conduct electricity? AIM The main purpose of this investigation is to see if wood can be made to conduct electricity because wood is normally an insulator. I’m going to get 5 pieces of wood, each about 6 centimetres long and cover each one in a different material. One piece of wood will be plain, another will be soaked in water, another one will be covered in Vaseline, another will be covered in tinfoil and one will be covered in sunflower oil. I want to see if the electric current can travel through these pieces of wood covered in different substances. I also want to change the wood’s electrical properties. PREDICTION I think the only pieces of wood that the electric current will be able to travel through are the pieces of wood covered in water and tinfoil. PLANNING I am going to find out if an electrical current can still travel through these pieces of wood covered in different substances and I will try and see if I can change the properties of the wood. That I hope very much this investigation will be successful as well as very interesting and intriguing. The equipment I will need is a voltmeter, crocodile clips and 6 pieces of wood, cooking oil, water, Vaseline and tinfoil. I will record the results of this test in a result table and a graph. FAIR TEST For a fair test I will make sure I use the same amount of substance on each piece of wood and keep each piece of wood on the voltmeter for the same amount of time. To make sure the voltmeter was working properly I tested it to see if it showed when there was an electric current. Voltmeter test RESULTS AND ANALYSIS I took some pictures of the voltmeter on one of the tests where an electric current did pass through the wood and one where it didn’t. Wet wood Dry wood Plain Wet Oil Vaseline Tinfoil My Prediction My Prediction My Prediction My Prediction My Prediction No Yes No No Yes Actual Result Actual Result Actual Result Actual Result Actual Result No Yes No No Yes My results tell me that all my predictions were correct during this investigation. I clipped the crocodile clips together to make sure they were working and to make sure that the voltmeter was working. I also took some pictures of some of the tests for examples. I have enjoyed this investigation and it was very fun but this investigation is quite messy!!! Investigation Three How much weight can a paper bridge hold? AIM I want to find out how much weight a paper bridge can hold. I will put on as many coins as the bridge can hold. I going to have 30 coins to use but I think I will not use all 30 of them. I will also fold the paper into different shapes to see if this will make the bridge stronger. PREDICTION I think the paper bridge will be at its strongest point when the paper is folded into a circle shape. PLANNING I’m going to build a paper bridge and put on it as many coins as it can take on it. I’m going to test the paper bridge’s strength. The shapes I’m going to fold the piece of paper into are a circular tube, a rectangular tube, a corrugated piece of paper and a normal flat piece of paper. The equipment I will need is 4 pieces of paper, 2 blocks and 30 1-penny coins. From this investigation I will learn which shape of paper can hold the most coins. I will record my results in a table. FAIR TEST For a fair test I will make sure I put the blocks just the right distance apart not to far in not to far out and I will make sure the paper is always the same length. This will make sure that the bridge is stable. I will put on all of the coins carefully and in the middle of the bridge. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS My results tell me that the circular tube could hold 12 coins before it collapsed and its order of strength was medium. The corrugated paper was the strongest and could hold all 30 of the coins. The rectangular tube could hold 17 coins before it collapsed and its order of strength was very strong. The flat, normal piece of paper was the weakest and could only hold 1 of the coins. Some of the pieces of paper changed shape when weight was added to that bridge. The circular tube went an oval shape at the ends. The rectangular tube went a diamond shape at both ends. The flat normal piece of paper sagged in the middle. The corrugated piece of paper didn’t change shape at all. I didn’t like this investigation very much because it was dull and boring. Investigation Four Coat hanger sounds AIM I want to find out how sound will travel through different materials such as air and a solid. I will find out if sound travels better through air or through a solid like my fingers. I will use a wire coat hanger, some cotton and my fingers. PREDICTION I think banging the coat hanger against the wall will make more noise than me banging the coat hanger against the wall with my fingers in my ears so that the sound will vibrate from the coat hanger to my fingers. PLANNING I’m going to find out how well sound can travel to my ears. I’m going to use a wire coat hanger and a piece of cotton. I will also need my fingers! I’m going ...