Use salt to make an egg float

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Description

Demonstration of density by making eggs float in water.


Resources

1 egg per group
1 pint clear plastic tumbler per group.
teaspoon
large bag of salt

Instructions

Three quarters fill the tumbler with water.
Carefully place the egg into the bottom of the tumbler.
Explain what you are going to do and then ask the beavers/cubs to predict how many teaspoon of salt they think it will take to make the egg float.
Beavers take it in turns to add teaspoons of salt, counting as they add.
In the name of a fair test the teaspoons of salt should always be the same e.g. a level teaspoon each time.
How many does it take before the egg starts to rise?

Discuss why the egg starts to float.

Density is the mass of a material per unit volume. ... Adding salt to the water increases the density of the solution because the salt increases the mass without changing the volume very much. When enough salt is added to the water, the saltwater solution's density becomes higher than the egg's, so the egg will then float!


Tags

  • Egg
  • Eggs; experiments;science;
  • experiment
  • floating
  • science
  • scientist badge

Badge Links

  • Experiment - Experiment
  • Scientist - Salt