The New Coop

The Coop

 We recently purchased a new house, that contains a dog house in the backyard. We are working on turning it into a chicken coop. We think it has a ton of wasted space behind the walls (picture below) and we are working on tearing them out. When this coop is done, it will be super strong. It will keep out the bears. If we are right about the wasted space, there will be enough room for up to 13 chickens.

Wasted space behind wall?

How Much Salt Does It Take To Float Different Things?

Introduction

Have you ever wondered how much better things float in saltwater? If you have, there is no more wondering to do, because we have wondered for you. We've done an experiment to see.

Materials

Lots of room temperature water, a cup, a one cup, a teaspoon, glass marble, metal marble, ice cube, dime, quarter, salt, almond, grape, aluminum foil, paper clip, and a spoon to stir with

Hypothesis

To float a marble, it will take 15 tsp of salt. To float an ice cube, it will take 13 tsp. To float a metal ball, it will take 20 tsp. To float a dime, it will take 5 tsp. To float a quarter, it will take 10 tsp. To float an almond, it will take 5 tsp. To float a grape, it will take 3 tsp. To float a paper clip, it will take 15 tsp. To float a piece of crumpled up aluminum foil, it will take 3 tsp.

Procedure

1.    Fill your glass with one cup of water.
2.    See if the glass marble floats. If it doesn’t, add a tsp of salt to the glass, and stir it in. Does it float now?
3.    Continue putting salt in your glass until it floats. Some things will not float at all.
4.    Do this with all of your items. Wash out the cup between each one.
5.    How many tsp of salt did it take for each item to float?
6.    Record your results.

Results

 Aluminum foil, hypotheses 3 tsp, actual 5 tsp
 Almond, hypothesis 5 tsp, actual 4 tsp
 Grape, hypothesis 3 tsp, actual 4 tsp
 Glass marble, hypothesis 15 tsp, actual, no floater – salt stopped dissolving at 12 tsp
 Metal marble, no floater, hypothesis 20 tsp
 Dime, no floater, hypothesis 5 tsp
 Quarter, no floater, hypothesis 10 tsp
 Paper clip, no floater, hypothesis 15 tsp
 Ice cube, 0 tsp, already floats

 Conclusion

It turned out my hypothesis was wrong, I was very close with the almond and the grape though. Most of the things didn’t even float at all. Next time, I could start with salt and add water. Then everything would float. Maybe I could do even more ingredients like corn, beans, or chocolate. I could even add sugar to the water, and see if I get different results.

Experiment View

Ice Cube Before Testing

It Already Floats

Aluminum Foil Before Testing

It Sinks

It Is Now Floating Because Of The Salt

Almond Before Testing

It Sinks

It Floats Now

Grape Before Testing

It Sinks

It Floats Now

Paperclip Before Testing

It Sinks

It Still Sinks

Metal Ball Before Testing

It Sinks

It Still Sinks

Dime Before Testing

It Sinks

It Still Sinks