MELTING ICE WITH MORE THAN JUST SALT! I'M MELTING!! MELTING ICE WITH MORE THAN JUST SALT!

BIG QUEISTION!! WHAT SUBSTANCE MELTS ICE FASTEST? I WANT TO KNOW THIS BECAUSE WHEN THE ROADS FREEZE OVER IN COLORADO I WANT TO SEE IF A DIFFERENT SUBSTANCE COULD MELT THE ICE FASTER THAN SALT ROCKS OR SEA SALT.

HYPOTHESIS! Hypothesis --If salt rocks melts ice on roads and sidewalks, then there must be another substance that can be used to melt ice just as fast or faster. --Vinegar is an acid so it will melt ice the fastest. Chili powder is hot to the taste so it will melt ice about as fast as vinegar. Sprite will be next because ice melts quickly when you have it in your drink. HYPOTHESIS!

Interesting facts 1: When you add salt to ice the temperature drops. 2: Salt is used on the roads and side walks to melt ice. 3: Salt is mainly composed of sodium chloride. 4: Sodium chloride is toxic to most plants. 5: Salt is an important mineral to animal life including humans.

Materials! 1: 2 tbs. salt rocks or sea salt 2: 2 tbs. vinegar 3: 2 tbs. Sprite soda 4: 2 tbs. chili powder 5: 1 ruler 6: 4 equal sized ice cubes 7: 4 equal sized bowls 8: 1 table spoon 9: a stop-watch

Procedures 1: First, gather your materials listed above. Use a table spoon to measure 2 tbs. of salt rocks, Sprite, vinegar, and chili powder, dumping each in its own bowl. 2: Use a ruler to measure 4 ice cubes that are equal in length and width. 3: Next, get your stop-watch ready and drop one ice cube into the each separate bowl with the 4 substances you measured earlier. Quickly press the ‘start’ button on your stop-watch. 4: For the first observation, watch the stop-watch till it reaches the 10 minute mark. Record each ice cube’s length in centimeters. For the rest of the observations, record the length every 5 minutes. 5: Salt is the control group in this experiment, keep time on the stop-watch until the control group melts. If any ice cube melts before the control group, record that in your data. 6: To end the experiment, wait until 1 of the ice cubes melts and record what substance that ice cube was in. Measure each ice cube one last time and record it in your data.

Observations Vinegar: I noticed in my experiment that the ice cube in vinegar started melting the fastest, but then salt rocks caught up to it. Salt Rocks: Salt rocks at 15 minutes began to narrow faster than all the rest of the substances. Chili powder: In the last 5 minutes of the experiment chili powder stayed the same measurement. Sprite: Sprite would melt a lot and then melt more slowly and then melt a lot. Vinegar: Vinegar came in second to salt rocks in melting ice. Chili powder: Chili powder melted ice the slowest. Chili powder: Chili powder was also the messiest.

Data Data Starting point: all ice cubes are 6.2cm. 10 min. Vinegar: 5.4cm. Chili powder: 5.4cm. Sprite: 5.3cm. Salt rock: 6.2cm. 15 min. Vinegar: 5 cm. Salt rocks: 6 cm. (getting skinnier) 20 min. Vinegar: 5.2 cm. Sprite: 4.6 cm. Chili powder: 5.3cm. Salt rocks: 5.9 cm. (disintegrating)

Data continued… 25 min. Vinegar: 4.4cm. Sprite: 4.5 cm. Chili powder: 5 cm. Salt rocks: 5.5 cm. (getting smaller width wise) 30 min. Vinegar: 4.1 cm. Sprite: 4.1 cm. Chili powder: 4.7cm. Salt rocks: 4.9 cm. (salt is eating holes in ice) 35 min. Vinegar: 3.5 cm. Sprite: 3.8 cm. Chili powder: 4.7 cm. Salt rocks: 3.5 cm. At 37:33, salt was the first to melt. Here are the final measurements: Vinegar: 2.9 cm. Sprite: 3.2 cm. Chili powder: 4.5 cm. Salt rocks: gone

Analysis of data Analysis of Data The experiment tested my hypothesis. The reason I think this is because I learned that vinegar is not better for melting ice than salt rocks. Also that Sprite and chili powder couldn’t come close to melting ice faster than salt rocks.

Conclusion My hypothesis was incorrect. If I could change the experiment I would have tried to add more substances to melt ice with because as I was doing the experiment I found out that Sprite has a very large amount of salt and I would have liked to try something with more sodium. Some new questions I have are- What would melt ice faster, citric acid or salt rocks? Also, what would melt salt rocks faster, pure sunlight or salt rocks?

REFERENCES RESEARCH FOUND AT FOLLOWING SITES: 1.“Ice Melting Rates.” UIUC Department of Physics. July 25, 2006. http://van.phisics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1627 2.“Why do they use salt to melt ice on the road in the winter?” How Stuff Works. http://science.howstuffworks.com/road-salt.htm 3.“Salt.” Wikipedia. 28 November 2009 at 03:33. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt 4.“Ice Photos.” http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4484348/clearrrrr-main_Full.jpg 5.“Acids and Bases.” Wikipedia. 27 November 2009 at 16:48. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid