Lab Instructions
You will need:
- two tall narrow glass jars (about the size of an 8-oz baby food jar or an olive jar)
- steel wool (not treated, no soap)
- two clear plastic containers at least 4 cm high (such as cheap food storage containers)
- two rubber bands
- metric ruler
- water
Procedure:
Read through the following procedures and make an educated guess as to what you think will happen. Jot this down as you will need it for your conclusion.
- Wet a piece of steel wool and push it into the bottom of one of the glass jars so that the steel wool stays when the jar is turned upside down. If it falls down, use a larger piece of steel wool.
- Pour water into your two clear plastic containers until the water is about three to four cm deep. Turn both of the glass jars upside down, and then place one straight down into each of the water-filled containers.
- Now, tilt the jars so that air can escape, and then stand the jars back up in the water so that the height of the water inside the jars is about the same as the height of the water in the containers.
- Place a rubber band around each jar right at the water level in the jar. This will mark the water level in case it changes. Let the jars sit undisturbed for about two days.
- After two days, use the ruler to measure the water level for the two jars.
