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Essay What Makes Ice Melt Faster

Decent Essays

What Interaction Of Outside Influence Makes Ice Melt Fastest?
A. Explain the significance of the given factors in your project design plan:
• Problem statement
• Relevance of your testable question
Problem Statement:
I have lived in a place that during the winter, ice would form on the streets and sidewalks and have wondered why things such as salt or sand are used over other methods to help de-ice the surfaces? Why is salt or sand the most commonly used substances when addressing this issue?
Abstract
If you live in a place that gets cold in the winter, you've probably seen trucks out spreading a mixture of sand and salt on the streets after a snowfall to help de-ice the road. Have you ever wondered how this works? This basic …show more content…

Water (H2O) is a good solvent because it is partially polarized. The hydrogen ends of the water molecule have a partial positive charge, and the oxygen end of the molecule has a partial negative charge. This is because the oxygen atom holds on more tightly to the electrons it shares with the hydrogen atoms. The partial charges make it possible for water molecules to arrange themselves around charged atoms (ions) in solution, like the sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) ions that dissociate when table salt dissolves in water.
Other substances that dissolve in water also lower the freezing point of the solution. The amount by which the freezing point is lowered depends only on the number of molecules dissolved, not on their chemical nature. This is an example of a colligative property. In this project, you'll investigate different substances to see how they affect the rate at which ice cubes melt. You'll test substances that dissolve in water (i.e., soluble substances), like salt and sugar, as well as substances that don't dissolve in water (i.e., insoluble substances), like sand and pepper. Which substances will speed up the melting of the ice?
Terms and Concepts
To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:
• Solution
• Solute
• Solvent
• Colligative properties
• Freezing point depression
• Phases of matter o Solid o Liquid
o

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