12/14/15

Salt Solubility In Snow Globes

Introduction: Making snow globes is sure a lot of fun, but there is a science behind it. Using a jar
or any type of container, a little figuring, and common chemicals laying around the house you
can make your own snow globe. We will be testing for our snow globes what liquids will not
dissolve salt, and provide an appropriate rate of fall when shaken.

Procedure:
1.) In an 8oz container with a lid, put 9.8g sea salt and 14.7g epson salt. Mix them
together. Pour in 8oz rubbing alcohol.
2.) Close the container and shake, putting the lid surface down.
3.) Determine how fast or slow the snow falls and if it dissolves in the substance.
4.) Record Observations
5.) Clean out container
6.) Mix 4.9g Kosher Salt and 9.8g Table Salt. Pour 8 oz rubbing alcohol into container
7.) Repeat steps 2-5
8.) Pour 4.9g of Table Salt and 8oz baby oil into container
9.) Repeat steps 2-5
10.) Mix 9.8g Sea Salt and 14.7g Epson Salt together, add 8oz baby oil.
11.) Repeat steps 2-5

Data Table:
Amounts of
Substance

Rate of Fall

Dissolve?
(Yes or No)

Test 1

9.8g Sea Salt

14.7g Kosher Salt
8oz Rubbing Alcohol

Too quick, almost all

at once

yes, after 3 or 4
shakes

Test 2

4.9g Kosher Salt

9.8g Table Salt
8oz Rubbing Alcohol

Too quick, almost all

at once

yes

Test 3

4.9g Table Salt

8oz Baby Oil

Too fine to see fall

no

Test 4

9.8 Sea Salt

14.7 Epson Salt
8oz Baby Oil

Slower, more like

snow

no

Lab Questions:
1.) The first snow globes were invented in the 19th century and were made of glass for
the dome and glass powder for the snow.
2.) I chose the mixture of baby oil, Sea Salt, and epson salt because I found it to look the
most like snow, and the baby oil didnt dissolve the snow like water or rubbing alcohol would.
3.) The parts of a solution are the solute, which is the thing being dissolved, and solvent,
the substance doing the dissolving. I used sea salt and epson salt as my solute, and the baby oil as
my solvent.
4.) Solubility is the greatest amount of solute that can dissolve in a solvent. My snow
didnt dissolve in my solution because salt is insoluble to oil
5.) The density of the salts and oils caused the fall time of my snow to vary in the
samples

6.) The sodium ions and chloride ions separate from each other and become dispersed
within the water molecules. Oil is made of lipids: chains of carbon and hydrogen, which are not
ionic at all. Therefore there are no places for the ionic sodium and chloride to hide within the
lipids. The Na and Cl would prefer to stay with each other where they have nice ionic
interactions, the result is that the salt does not dissolve.
7.) When the salt is simply placed to the water, the salt sinks to the bottom and stays
there. The movements of the salt in the water causes the salt to separate their atoms and connect
with the water molecules.
8.) The liquid with the highest viscosity is baby oil, then rubbing alcohol, and finally
water.

Analysis:
Every jar had 8oz of some substance, and within each trial different amounts of different
types of salts were added. The first trial of kosher and sea salt within rubbing alcohol had fallen
too quickly in the container to be considered snow. When substituting the amount of kosher salt
with a lesser amount and using table salt instead of sea salt in the second trial resulted in almost
the exact same results as the first trial. 4.9g of table salt was too small to see within 8oz of baby
oil. Sea salt and epson salt looked the most like snow, and fell at an appropriate rate to resemble
snowfall within the baby oil.

Conclusion:
In this project, we tested what salt was dissolvable in by making snow globes. I
hypothesized that some liquids will not dissolve certain types of salt. I learned that anything
water based will dissolve salt, unlike substances that arent water based such as baby oil will not
dissolve salt. Errors that occurred in this project are not being completely accurate in the
amounts of salt I put into the solutions. In conclusion, to make a snow globe out of a type of salt
and some substance, the best option would be sea and kosher salt in baby oil.

Works Cited
Churchill, Alexandria. The Accidental Invention of the Snow Globe. marthastewart.com
Martha Stewart Living Inc., 2015. Dec 2015.

madsci.org MadSci Network, Mar 2002. Dec 2015. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/

2002-03/1015878783.Ch.r.html