{"id":52369,"date":"2020-04-03T12:49:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T16:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/?post_type=news&#038;p=52369"},"modified":"2020-05-13T11:06:28","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T15:06:28","slug":"science-at-home-water-tension-experiment","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/news\/science-at-home-water-tension-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"Science At Home! Water Tension Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for something to do to keep your brain active and engaged? We&#8217;re here to help with Science at Home! Over the next few weeks, we&#8217;ll be providing you with fun science experiments you can conduct using commonly found items. You can also visit us at the Museum&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/science-at-home\/\">Science at Home page<\/a> for additional resources! <a href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Science_at_Home_Water_Tension_Experiment.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Find a print-out version of this experiment here!<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Materials Needed<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Large bowl<\/li>\n<li>Dish soap<\/li>\n<li>Black pepper<\/li>\n<li>Needle or straight pin<\/li>\n<li>Water<\/li>\n<li>Optional items: paper clip, tweezers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Experiment Instructions<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/1Pouring-water_300w.jpg\" alt=\"Pouring water into bowl.\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 1:<\/strong> Fill the bowl with water. Wait until water is still.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/2Floating-needle_800w.jpg\" alt=\"Float a needle on the water surface.\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Step 2:<\/strong> With care, place a needle or straight pin on the surface of the water without sinking it. Tip: avoid touching the water with your fingers (this is where the tweezers will come in handy).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-52855\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/3Placing-the-paper-clip_300w.jpg\" alt=\"Carefully placing a paperclip on the surface of the water using tweezers.\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/3Placing-the-paper-clip_300w.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/3Placing-the-paper-clip_300w-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Optional Step:<\/strong> If you are successful with the needle or pin, really challenge yourself by trying to float a paperclip!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-52856\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/4Sprinkling-pepper_300w.jpg\" alt=\"Sprinkling water surface with ground pepper.\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/4Sprinkling-pepper_300w.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/4Sprinkling-pepper_300w-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 3:<\/strong> Remove objects from water. Then, sprinkle black pepper across the surface of the water.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-52857\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/5Soap-on-fingertip_300w.jpg\" alt=\"Placing a small amount of dish soap on fingertip.\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/5Soap-on-fingertip_300w.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/5Soap-on-fingertip_300w-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 4:<\/strong> Place just a bit of dish soap on your fingertip.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-52858\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6Finger-to-pepper3_300w.jpg\" alt=\"Touching fingertip to pepper-covered water surface.\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6Finger-to-pepper3_300w.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/6Finger-to-pepper3_300w-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 5:<\/strong> Touch the tip of your finger in the center of the pepper-covered surface and watch what happens!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>What We&#8217;ve Learned<\/h3>\n<p>Water forms a skin-like surface called water tension. This occurs because the water molecules at the surface are pulled closer together than the ones directly below the surface.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Natural Connections<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/hao-wang-f-lMILsS0j0-unsplash_800w.jpg\" alt=\"Water striders on water surface. Photo by hao wang on Unsplash.\" \/><span style=\"font-size:12px;\">Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@danranwanghao?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">hao wang<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/water-strider?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Unsplash<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Water Striders are insects that exploit this property of water living their entire lives in this unique environment between air and water.<\/p>\n<p>Another insect, a species of Rove Beetle, uses a surfactant (similar in action to the dish soap you used). When threatened, the insect dips its abdomen into the water and exudes a drop of surfactant which interferes with the water tension. The beetle is then quickly propelled by the expanding edge away from a hungry predator, just like the pepper!<\/p>\n<h3>Having Fun?<\/h3>\n<p>We want to see! Tag <strong>@naturalsciences<\/strong> on social media so we can see you and your loved ones enjoying our Science at Home experiments.<\/p>\n<h3>Want More Experiments?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/news\/science-at-home-water-density-experiment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Try this one about Water Density!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/news\/science-at-home-an-eggs-celent-adventure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Try making a rubber egg!<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>For more information about our upcoming activities, conservation news and ground-breaking research, follow @NaturalSciences on\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/naturalsciences\/\">Instagram<\/a><\/em><em>,\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/naturalsciences\">Twitter<\/a><\/em><em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/naturalsciences\/\">Facebook<\/a><\/em><em>.\u00a0Join the conversation with #visitNCMNS.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52859,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/52369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/52369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}