Follow along with the activities below to learn more about the unique properties of water.
Water Is Life
How do the properties of water help explain how water can become polluted?
How might pollution affect the properties of water?
Water is made up of 1 Oxygen and 2 Hydrogen molecules, or H2O.
The unique properties of water make it act in interesting ways!
Cohesion is the attraction between water molecules- water likes to stick with water!
Cohesion makes water behave like it's covered in a thin layer, like a balloon holding in air. Have you ever looked at a droplet of water and noticed it looked like a dome? This is called surface tension.
Another special property of water is adhesion, or water's ability to stick to other things, like glass or soil.
Surface tensionallows the surface of water to resist external forces.
Water's surface tension is so strong it can even support certain objects like paper clips, or even bugs like water striders.
Can you find examples of these properties of water in the following activities?
Event 1: The Penny Balance Beam
How many drops of water can you place on a single penny before it overflows?