When I chose Arkansas as my headquarters, I didn’t count on all this snow. It doesn’t mix well with my gorgeous pink locks and makes my toes cold. But what are you gonna do? It’s here, so let’s make the best of it!
My plan to make the best of it? Sit by my fireplace until it is ALL GONE! And, to share with you a cool, er… coooold, science experiment you can try at home!
Have you ever noticed that we use salt to melt the snow and ice? The science behind that is simple: Salt lowers the freezing/melting point of water (in this case ice or snow). The salt dissolves into the liquid water in the ice and lowers its freezing point. If you watch you can see the salt melting the ice — the ice immediately around the grain of salt melts, and it spreads out from that point. To find out exactly how this happens, go to http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/road-salt.htm.
Salt and a String
This is a fun science experiment/magic trick you can do at home!
Materials:
- ice cube
- string
- salt
- cup of water
Put an ice cube in a cup of water. Cut a piece of string a few inches long. Try to pick up the ice cube using just the string, NO fingers! (That’s cheating, and coooold!) You will see that it doesn’t work. Now, dip the end of the string in the water and lay it across the ice cube. Sprinkle some salt on top of both the ice cube and the string. Wait a minute or so and then try to pick up the ice again using just the string. It should work this time! The salt melted the ice just a bit and the water refroze around the string.
You can find this and other snow-related science, as well as links to all you ever wanted to know about snow and ice, at http://hubpages.com/hub/Easy-Snow-and-Ice-Experiments.
Have a great weekend!
P.S. I stole that title from a loyal Facebook fan and minion, Natalie Ghidhotti #ohsnowyoudidnt2011. She’s so clever!
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