Discrepant Event: The Vanishing Liquid

Materials Required:
- Eyedroppers (enough for 2 per table group)
- Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)
- Water (at room temperature)
- Paper towel
Safety Considerations:
Do not allow students to ingest the isopropyl alcohol.
Isopropyl alcohol is flammable !eep away from spar!s or flame.
Curriculum:
"his demonstration fits into the #rade $ science curriculum under the following areas%
(&) 'aintaining a (ealthy )ody% ($-&-*+) ,Identify s!in as the ma-or component
of the integumentary system. and describe its role in protecting and supporting
the human body./
(2) Properties of and 0hanges in 1ubstances% ($-2-*$) ,Identify properties of the
three states of matter./
Commentary:
In this discrepant e2ent. the water and isopropyl alcohol are placed into two
separate eyedroppers before the students enter the classroom. "he water and alcohol are
not identified. but instead can be referred to as li3uid & and li3uid 2.
1tudents should be sitting in their table groups. ideally 4 people per group. 5ne
person from each group should be as!ed to come to the front to pic! up their eye-
droppers. which should be labelled ,&/ and ,2/. 1tudents should be instructed to pic!
one person in each group that will be in charge of the li3uid & and one person that will be
in charge of li3uid two. "he fourth person can be in charge of collecting paper towel for
their table group.
5nce all the supplies are collected. the student in charge of li3uid & (water) should
be as!ed to drop 6-4 drops of li3uid one onto the palm of each students7 hand. 1tudents
will obser2e that little happens. which is what they would e8pect. "his should ma!e
9awrence 0ohen : ;osh <lassen
sense to the students e2en without !nowing that the li3uid is water. 1tudents should then
dry off their hands with the paper towel and repeat the procedure with li3uid 2.
When li3uid 2 is dropped onto the students7 hands. they will notice that the
rubbing alcohol e2aporates 3uic!ly and the area where the li3uid was. now feels cool.
"his is not what the students would e8pect to happen. "hey will li!ely wonder why this
is happening or happened. "his is the dise3uilibrium that the e2ent is supposed to create.
=t this point. the students can be as!ed 3uestions to in2estigate what has
happened. 1uch 3uestions may include%
- What did you see happen>
- Why would the two li3uids act differently> Were they different li3uids>
- Why might the second li3uid disappear more 3uic!ly than the first>
- What could the li3uids ha2e been>
=fter the 3uestions ha2e been as!ed. an e8planation of what actually happened
including the scientific e8planation. What happened> E8plain to the students that li3uid
& is water and li3uid 2 is rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol). What happens when the
alcohol disappears is a change in state from li3uid to gas e2aporation. "he isopropyl
alcohol has an e2aporation point that is much lower than that of water. "hus. the alcohol
e2aporates using the body heat from the students7 hands. Water7s e2aporation point is
much higher. therefore it does not e2aporate.
"he s!in feels cool as the alcohol e2aporates. =s! the students why this might be
(it is because heat energy from the s!in is being transferred to the alcohol. causing it to
e2aporate). =s! students if they can thin! of any way this relates to the way the body
wor!s (this is similar to sweating).
"he purpose of sweating is to cool our body. to lower our body temperature. li!e
an internal air conditioner. When we perspire our body releases perspiration (sweat).
which e2aporates from our s!in. =s the sweat e2aporates. our s!in is cooled because heat
energy is transferred from inside our body to the s!in therefore lowering body
temperature. "his should bring the students bac! to understanding of what happened in
the demonstration? they should be bac! to e3uilibrium they should understand that the
alcohol e2aporates at a lower temperature and the s!in feels cool because body heat
(energy) is used to help the alcohol e2aporate.
9awrence 0ohen : ;osh <lassen
If time permits. ha2e the students ma!e predictions on what would happen if they
put drops of isopropyl alcohol onto a room-temperature table. =llow them to e8periment
and see what happens. What could they do to ma!e it e2aporate 3uic!er> 1ome ideas
could include blowing on the isopropyl alcohol. heating up the table with friction.
spreading out the alcohol o2er a greater surface area. "hey could also try the same
actions with water on the table.
Concluding uestions:
1ome of the 3uestions that can be as!ed to conclude the discrepant e2ent%
- What differences can you notice between the water and the alcohol>
(The rubbing alcohol has a different smell)
- 0an you still see the rubbing alcohol after if e2aporates> (No)
- 0an you still smell it> Does that mean it has disappeared completely>
(No. It is now in a new state gas.)
- What made the alcohol e2aporate faster than the water>
(Lower evaporating temperature)
- Would the water e2entually e2aporate on your hand> (es! eventually)
- Would the water e2aporate faster on your hand than on something li!e a des!>
(es! because the water would use your body heat energy to evaporate)
- Why did the alcohol e2aporate faster on your hand than on the des!>
("n your hand it was able to use the heat energy from your body! the table
had less heat energy so the alcohol had to use heat energy from the
surrounding air! which too# longer)
- What if the des! was heated. would the li3uid e2aporate faster> (es)
- (ow could you ma!e a li3uid e2aporate faster from your hand> ($pply heat -
ie. %riction! breathing onto li&uid)
This event is adapted from 'im (atson! The )isappearing Li&uid! found online at
http*++tiger.coe.missouri.edu+,pgermann+)isc-vent+.eat/Transfer+-vaporation+evaporation.html
9awrence 0ohen : ;osh <lassen