Try this experiment out at home!

Materials:

• Water
• Another liquid you can see through (dish soap, canola oil, rubbing alcohol, clear soda, etc.)
• 3 small cups (something clear is easiest)
• Measuring cups/spoons
• Stirrers (anything is fine)
• Various powders (pick 3)
  • Epsom salt
  • Table salt
  • Table sugar
  • Other sweeteners (i.e. Stevia)
  • Powdered chalk
  • Baking soda
  • Corn starch
  • Spices (i.e. pepper, paprika, etc.)
  • Powdered Jello mix
  • Sand
• Thermometer (optional)
• Scale (optional)

Procedure:

1. Read the instructions all the way through before beginning!
2. Label a cup for each powdered compound you’ve gathered.
3. Fill each cup with 1/2 cup of water. Then add 1 teaspoon of the powder to be tested to the cup. Stir carefully and observe. Does it dissolve? Record your observations.
4. Keep adding the powder slowly 1/2 or 1 teaspoon at a time and stirring until it doesn’t dissolve anymore (1/2 tsp increments will give you a more accurate measurement). Record how much you add.
5. Repeat for all of your powdered compounds.
6. Wash out your three cups or get three new ones – all of these should be safe to dispose of down the kitchen sink into the trash.
7. Now fill a cup with 1/2 cup of the other liquid (solvent). Select one of your powdered compounds and add 1 teaspoon to the cup. Stir carefully and observe. Keep adding the powder slowly 1/2 or 1 teaspoon at a time and stirring until it doesn’t dissolve anymore. Keep track of how much you add and record your observations.
8. Feel free to complete with any combination of the above solvent and solute
9. All of these should be safe to dispose of down the kitchen sink into the trash. Carefully clean up your space.

***If you want to be more scientific in your data collection: take and record the temperatures of the water and the other liquid, add the powdered compounds by weight (grams) instead of teaspoon measurements***

Observations/Data:

Post your results to compare the solubility of the materials you decided to use. If you can, make a table to report your data. Include any observations you made throughout the experiment. Make some conclusions based on your knowledge of solubility and the materials used – explain why you think your results turned out the way they did.