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Temperature & the Density of water science experiment | Fizzics Education

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Water Density and Ocean Currents

Water Density and Ocean Currents

Follow FizzicsEd 150 Science Experiments:

You will need:

  • One clear 5 litre plastic container with a lid, cheap is best
  • Two 1-litre measuring bowls filled with water
  • Red and blue food colouring
  • Modelling clay
  • Salt and a measuring spoon

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Water density and salinity science experiment - materials needed
1 Water density and salinity science experiment - adding food colouring to the water

Add four drops of blue food colouring to one bowl and 4 drops of red food colouring to the other bowl. Be careful, if the colours are too strong you may not be able to see the result clearly.

2 Water density and salinity science experiment - adding salt to the water

Add at least twelve tablespoons of salt to the blue solution. Stir well to dissolve all the crystals.

3 Water density and salinity science experiment - cutting the lid

Cut your plastic lid in half so that it can be inserted into your container vertically. Try to make the the shape of the cut lid match the inner contour of your container as much as possible. If you dont want to use the lid, cardboard will work however it will not be as re-usable.

4 Water density and salinity science experiment - rolling out the play dough

Roll out some moulding clay into a ‘snake’. Place the ‘snake’ around the edges of the lid, making sure that the clay is adhered to bothe sides of the lid. Insert the lid into the container.

5 Water density and salinity science experiment - lid in the container

Carefully seal all gaps between the plastic surfaces with the moulding clay

6 Water density and salinity science experiment - different salt concentrations seperated by the lid

Gently pour both liquids at the same time into the container, one side red and the other blue. If too much is added on one side the uneven water pressure may cause your lid seals to break.
You should now have a container with two different coloured liquids separated by a plastic lid

7 Water density and salinity science experiment - pulling the lid upwards

In one movement, pull the lid vertically out of the container. The two different solutions will now mix together. If all has gone well you should find that the blue saline solution will clearly be below the red freshwater as two distinct regions.

8 Adding dry ice to a large column of bubbly water
9 A man holding a microphone at the beach

Get the Ocean Science Unit of Work!

Dive into ocean science as we look at the abiotic factors that affect life in our oceans.

  • How far does light pass through water?
  • How does pressure change as we go deeper underwater?
  • How do ocean currents form and more!

Includes cross-curricular teaching ideas, student quizzes, a sample marking rubric, scope & sequences & more

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10 Teacher showing how to do an experiment outside to a group of kids.

Online courses for teachers & parents

– Help students learn how science really works

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Why Does This Happen?

Put simply, an objects density is related to the amount of ‘stuff’ in a given space. In better terms, density is the ratio of an objects mass to its volume. Adding more salt to the water made it more dense, making it sink below the freshwater above it. On average, sea water has around 35 grams of salt for every litre of water.

Density gradients drive currents to and from the polar regions of the world. When dense water masses are first formed they move towards the ocean floor. This moving mass of dense water is seeking to find a stable position along the ocean floor. As the cold salty water falls to the ocean floor, water must fill the space above it, setting up a situation for mass movement of water. As equatorial seawater warms up it expands, and is driven by wind and the differing density gradient toward the polar regions. This movement is known as Thermohaline circulation.

The movement of cold polar water towards equatorial regions provides an important source of nutrients for equatorial waters. Australian southern fisheries thrive on the upwelling of these deep ocean currents, as fish populations expand when their natural food sources have more nutrients to grow.

Variables to test

More on variables here

  • Do you see the same thing occur if you use canola oil instead?
  • What happens if you replace the salt with sugar?

A man with a glove above a liquid nitrogen vapour cloud

Learn more!

Teaching about floating & sinking? from density to surface tension, our Working with Water workshop has you covered!
Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class.

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