CANDAC (Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change) researchers have teamed up with students and staff at schools in Ontario and Nunavut to launch a new project that encourages young people to become active researchers who monitor atmospheric conditions using scientific instruments at their school. Researchers and students work together to gather, compare and analyse data to better understand the current state of Earth's dynamic atmosphere.
Are there any tricks to making the home-made thermometers work? One of our teachers tried it here at school but cannot get the liquid to move up the straw.
Hi Lee-Anne, Thanks for your question! Make sure that you are using isopropyl alcohol as the liquid - a higher concentration of alcohol (i.e. 70% v/v) will work faster than a lower concentration (i.e. 30% v/v). Make sure that the straw is in the liquid, but not touching the bottom of the bottle. The seal between the clay and the bottle and the straw needs to be very tight. Maybe try pressing the clay down more carefully? Also, you can try holding the bottle a bit higher. Warming the air in the bottle will increase the pressure on the liquid, causing the liquid to move up the straw! Let me know how it goes :)
Hi Lee-Anne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your question! Make sure that you are using isopropyl alcohol as the liquid - a higher concentration of alcohol (i.e. 70% v/v) will work faster than a lower concentration (i.e. 30% v/v). Make sure that the straw is in the liquid, but not touching the bottom of the bottle. The seal between the clay and the bottle and the straw needs to be very tight. Maybe try pressing the clay down more carefully? Also, you can try holding the bottle a bit higher. Warming the air in the bottle will increase the pressure on the liquid, causing the liquid to move up the straw! Let me know how it goes :)