preview

Capillary Action Lab Report

Decent Essays

absorb the heat from the sun, making it suitable for species to live on Earth. This is noticeable around coastal regions as the temperature remains roughly the same during both night and day (water breaks hydrogen bonds to absorb heat during the day — water forms hydrogen bonds to releases heat during the night).

III. Cohesive Properties
Methods
Materials: 6 test tubes, test tube rack, dropper.
The final experiment we performed was to test water’s density against other liquids. In order to test the most dense liquid, we obtained six clean and deionized test tubes and sufficient samples of oil, water and alcohol. We proceeded to add roughly 2 ml of oil in two test tubes, roughly 2 ml of water in two test tubes, and roughly 2 ml of alcohol …show more content…

However, when our data was compared with the rest of the class, our measurements were significantly higher for the capillary action of water and ethanol in the large tubes. This could potentially be due to our experimental error in measuring since our group was the only group to differentiate highly from our classmates. The bar graph demonstrating capillary action is on the next …show more content…

In the capillary action experiment, water molecules adhered to the positively charged glass tubing while the adhesive forces of hydrogen bonding kept the water from falling back down to the beaker. It was best seen in the smallest diameter tube where water molecules have more space to spread out and the negatively charged O- ion adhered to the glass tubing until the forces of gravity equaled it out, thus forcing the water from climbing any higher. This explains how water can climb up and down the internal structure of a tree to exist through its leaves, which is critical in plants being able to survive on Earth. However, our capillary action experiment is not exactly what happens in nature. We observed carnation flowers and celery placed in food dye and water during our lab. The dye reached much higher in the flowers and celery than it did in our tube. This shows that water can reach much higher than what we observed in our glass

Get Access