What do Scientists do with their Data? Unit I: The Nature of Science

Communicate Results Publish work in Journals. Review Results Repeat 3 R’s

Results must be Reproducible. What happens if there is a lot of data to support a hypothesis? Becomes a THEORY! Theory: Explanation of natural phenomena that is supported by a large body of evidence. Can theories change?

Scientific Law’s and Models Scientific Law: Statement that describes what happens in nature. Model: Idea, event, or object that is used to represent things very small, very large, or complex.

The Effects of the Temperature of the Soda on the Height of the Soda Eruption.

Purpose of the Investigation The purpose of this investigation was to investigate ways to change the height of the soda eruption. We wanted to know how changing the temperature of the soda would affect the height of the soda eruption? We hypothesized that if the temperature of the soda is increased then the height of the soda eruption will increase.

Materials 9 2L bottles of Diet Coke 9 packs of 14 mint flavored Mentos Graduated scale for measurement. One foot ¾ inch PVC pipe with a small hole drilled through at one end. Toothpick Ice Bath Warm Water Bath

Procedure You will need to create three test groups. The first test group will consist of 3 room temperature 2L bottles of Diet Coke and three sets of 14 mint flavored mentos. The second test group will consist of 3 2L bottles of Diet Coke that have been in an ice bath for 30 min and three sets of 14 mint flavored mentos. The third test group will consist of 3 two-liter bottles of Diet Coke that have been placed in a warm water bath for 30 min and three sets of 14 mint flavored mentos.

Procedure Continued Insert the toothpick into the PVC pipe and place 14 mint Mentos in the pipe. You will then take the room temp. Diet Coke and open the lid, placing the bottle in front of the graduated scale. Carefully line up the PVC pipe over the opening of the bottle with the toothpick end on top of the opening. Pull the toothpick out to allow all the Mentos to fall into the soda. Record the heights using observation and digital cameras. Repeat two more times for a total of three trials. Calculate the mean or average height. Repeat the above instructions using the cold Diet Coke and the warm Diet Coke.

The Effects of the Temperature of the Soda on the Height of the Soda Eruption Temperature of Soda Trial 1 (ft) Trial 2 (ft) Trial 3 (ft) Mean (ft) Room Temp Diet Coke 9.5 ft5.5 ft8.0 ft7.7 ft Cold Diet Coke4.0 ft4.5 ft3.5 ft4.0 ft Warm Diet Coke10.5 ft13.0 ft12.0 ft11.8 ft

Discussion and Analysis Discuss any trends that you may have noticed in the data. i.e. According to the data, as the temperature of the soda increased, the height of the soda eruption increased. Reflect on your hypothesis: Do the results support or reject your hypothesis? i.e. According to the data, our hypothesis is supported. Our hypothesis predicted an increase in height of the soda eruption as the temperature of the soda was increased. There was a definite increase in the height of the soda eruption as the temperature of the soda increased. The average height for the cold soda was 4.0ft, the room temp soda was 7.7ft and the warm soda was 11.8ft.

Experimental Error Discuss any mistakes that you made that might have caused your data to be inaccurate. If some of your data is “weird” try to figure out where you went wrong. i.e. Forgot to do the refrigerated soda tests first and they warmed up while setting in the sun. This might have had an impact on how high the eruption was. i.e. On trial 2 of the room temp soda we did not get all the Mentos into the bottle. Scott pulled the pipe away from the bottle before all the Mentos fell into the soda. This probably accounts for the lower height compared to trial 1 and 3 of the test group.

Suggestions for improvement Make suggestions for how this investigation could have been improved. i.e. Think about ways you could make the experiment more accurate and remove any factors that might have affected your data.

Conclusion What happened in the experiment? What does your data tell you about the experiment? Summarize any trends in data. What did you learn from this investigation? i.e. What did you learn about the factors that affect the height of the soda eruption?

Figures and Graphs How the Temperature of the Soda affects the Height of the Soda Eruption. Height of the Soda Eruption (ft) (DV) Temperature of Diet Coke (IV)