Supercooled Instant Heat!

Here is something that has been going on here lately.  Kyla has been participating in sixth grade science fair this year.  The picture above shows her conducting her experiment.  I will share her abstract as it is a condensed version of her project and experiment...

Abstract

Kyla

What if you could somehow bring a liquid to temperatures below its freezing point without it actually freezing?  Could you then initiate freezing at these temperatures? What if the freezing point was actually “warm”?  Sodium Acetate hand warmers provide a “supercool” window into studying crystal growth and heat generation at this freezing point.

In this experiment, I changed starting temperatures of hand warmers to understand the effect on crystal growth and heat generation.  My hypothesis was, if I change the starting temperature of the hand warmers, then the hand warmers started at zero degrees Celsius will have the most crystal growth and the hand warmers started at forty degrees Celsius will have the most heat generation. 

With the intention of testing this, I conducted six trials each at three different temperatures.  Using water baths, I changed the temperatures of the hand warmers.  With a ruler and an infrared thermometer, I measured the crystal growth and heat generation.  My independent variable was the starting temperature of the hand warmers and my dependent variable was the crystal growth (centimeters) and heat generation (Celsius).  As a result, I proved my hypothesis correct.

The most interesting thing I learned was that freezing doesn’t necessarily mean something is “cold”, but instead the point at which a liquid crystallizes.  If conducting this experiment again, I would test further starting temperatures and the amount of energy released.  This experiment was well worth the effort I put into it, because of the “supercool” things I learned.


Last week Kyla participated in her school Science Fair, today she is participating in the County Science Fair and next week she will be headed to State Science Fair in Missoula.  Fun times...

Good Luck Kyla! 

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This just in!

Here is our County Sixth Grade Science Fair Reserve Champion! ;)

Good Job Kyla!