Oil Lab
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Alex Goff
Oct 2, 2012, 9:55:18 AM10/2/12
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Scientifically oriented question – What is the estimated size of an oil molecule?
Evidence – The oil drop was 0.5mm in diameter. When is spread out on the water it had a 1.5mm diameter. Using the formula for the volume of a sphere I calculated that the oil drop was .065mm^3. Then I used the area of a circle to find the surface area of the spread oil. This came out to 1.77mm^2. Then you plug in all these numbers to find the height of a cylinder, because it is one molecule high. Then you get that the molecule is .037mm.
Explanation- If you know the size of the oil drop then you can fairly easily find out the size of a molecule. Because oil is less dense then water the oil will spread out to a layer only 1 molecule thick. Then using the formulas you can determine the height of the cylinder which is the size of a molecule.
Connection- This shows that you must be accurate with your measurements. Even if you are just a little off it could throw off the final result. Take you time and pay attention to detail when working on measurements.
Communication – I would show everyone that when the oil floats on the water it makes a small cylinder. Then it would be easier for people to understand that you can use math to find out the size of a molecule. Once they realize the layer is one molecule thick it would all make sence.
Reflection – The other students’ labs seem to have the same results and conclusions. This leads me to believe that my results are correct and can be backed up by more than one person.
Evidence – The oil drop was 0.5mm in diameter. When is spread out on the water it had a 1.5mm diameter. Using the formula for the volume of a sphere I calculated that the oil drop was .065mm^3. Then I used the area of a circle to find the surface area of the spread oil. This came out to 1.77mm^2. Then you plug in all these numbers to find the height of a cylinder, because it is one molecule high. Then you get that the molecule is .037mm.
Explanation- If you know the size of the oil drop then you can fairly easily find out the size of a molecule. Because oil is less dense then water the oil will spread out to a layer only 1 molecule thick. Then using the formulas you can determine the height of the cylinder which is the size of a molecule.
Connection- This shows that you must be accurate with your measurements. Even if you are just a little off it could throw off the final result. Take you time and pay attention to detail when working on measurements.
Communication – I would show everyone that when the oil floats on the water it makes a small cylinder. Then it would be easier for people to understand that you can use math to find out the size of a molecule. Once they realize the layer is one molecule thick it would all make sence.
Reflection – The other students’ labs seem to have the same results and conclusions. This leads me to believe that my results are correct and can be backed up by more than one person.
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