Week 14: Plunger and Ice Melting

 Week 14: Plunger and Ice Melting


What are we investigating?

We investigated three big questions this week. Why does a plunger stick to the table after you push it down? How can a particle model help to explain 'why does ice melt faster on metal than wood? How can a particle model help to explain 'why do cold drinks get water droplets on the outside?

How did we investigate this? 

To begin as a group we created a particle model of what we think is happening to the plunger when we push it down. We noticed that the plunger pressed down on a hard surface does not come back up and creates a suction because of the air pressure. When you use force to push down on the plunger the air particles flow out leaving less air pressure inside the plunger. We looked at systems and system modeling.

Plunger:

Constantly there is 14.7 pounds of air pressure pushing down on every object at all times. But there is also 14.7 pounds of pressure pushing up on objects all the time so it cancels out the weight of the air pressure. When a plunger is pushed down the air pressure on the inside is forced out of it leaving a smaller amount of air pressure pushing up at the plunger, and a larger amount pushing down which is what creates the suction. 

We then split into groups and used several different particle simulations. Half of the class investigated the condensation on the coke cans while the other half of the class investigated why the ice melted faster on the metal. Each group then made a flip video to present their findings. 


After this lesson the only question I have left is how do we teach the students to use the online simulations and explain it in an easier way? 



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