STEM Fair Project

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STEM Fair Project
How does the density of a liquid affect how fast
an object sinks in it?
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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Abstract
Purpose The purpose of my experiment was to
find out if a penny would sink faster in liquids
with less or more density.
Question Will a penny sink in a more dense
liquid or a less dense liquid?
How I did it I took a glass container and in 3
different liquids, of different densities,
dropped a penny in and measured how long it took
the penny to fall to the bottom for each liquid.
What I Learned I found that the penny sank in
the liquid with the least density.
Conclusion The lighter the density of a liquid,
the faster an object will sink in it.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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Table of Contents

1. Question
2. Variables
3. Hypothesis
4. Research
5. What I Used
6. How I did the experiment
7. Data Analysis
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography

Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Question
How does the density of a liquid affect how fast
an object sinks in it?
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Variables
Independent Water Paint Thinner Syrup
Dependent The rate at which a penny will sink
Controlled Glass Container Penny
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Hypothesis (What I think will Happen)
The sinking object (penny) will sink to the
bottom of the glass container faster in liquids
that are of less density than liquids that have
more density.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Research
What is density?
how much difference in the weight of two objects
of the same size
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
More Research
The most important parts of my research were
(A) Selection of the test liquids I had to pick
liquids that had different densities so that I
could see the difference with how the penny would
sink.
(B) Selection of the sinking object I picked
the penny as my sinking object because its
density was greater than any of our test liquids,
but close to that of the test liquids. This
allowed my object to sink at a rate that could be
measured in seconds.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Background Research (cont.)
The most important parts of my research were as
follows
(C) The molasses was too dark to see the penny
when it was dropped into it I replaced syrup
for the molasses because syrup was lighter in
color compared to molasses and the penny could be
seen as it sank in the syrup.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Materials List
(1) Pennies (2) Glass container (3) Stop
watch (4) Pencil (5) Paper (6) Water (test
liquid1) (7) Paint thinner (test
liquid2) (8) Syrup (test liquid3)
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures
(1) Gather the materials for the experiment.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(2) Gather the materials needed to measure and
compile the data to be collected during the
experiment.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(3) Pick the person who will drop the penny in
the liquid.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(4) Pick the person who will start and stop the
stopwatch.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(5) Pick the person to write down how long it
took for the penny to sink to the bottom of the
glass container
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(6) Create the data table to record the data.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(7) Mark of the glass container to know how far
to fill the glass container.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(8) Fill the glass container with test liquid
1, to the mark on the container.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(9) Drop the penny into the liquid and start the
stopwatch.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(10) Stop the stopwatch once the penny touches
the bottom of the container.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(11) Write down the time, from the stopwatch,
onto the data table.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Experimental Procedures (cont.)
(12) Perform the experiment 3 times in this
liquid. Find the
average time it took for the penny to reach the
bottom, for this liquid.
(13) Empty the container, clean the container and
dry it.
(14) Repeat all of the steps for each liquid.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Data Analysis
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Conclusion
After the experiment I learned that the penny
sank faster in liquid of less density compared to
the liquids of heavier density. Liquid 3
(syrup) had the heaviest density and Liquid 2
(paint thinner) was the lightest. The penny sank
to the bottom of the glass container three times
faster in paint thinner. Therefore, it was
concluded that my hypothesis was correct. The
penny sank to the bottom of the glass container
faster in the liquid that had the least density.
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School
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STEM Fair Project
Bibliography
Michael Padilla, Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Earths Waters. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006
Michael Padilla, Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Earths Waters. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006
Rinehart and Winston Hall, Science Spectrum
Physical Approach. Holt McDougal, 2000
Michael Padilla, Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Earths Waters. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006
Alexis Denny 3rd Grade Ms. Daskivich
Northview Elementary School