By Nethra

Question: What makes the variables run away from the soap? Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that the soap breaks the surface of water thus, making the variables move away from the soap.

A Bowl Water Liquid Soap Matchstick Stopwatch Few drops of Oil A table spoon of Pepper A table spoon of Turmeric Powder A table spoon of Talcum Powder A table spoon if Tea Powder

Step 1: Fill a bowl half way with water. Step 2: Sprinkle a table spoon of pepper on the surface

of the water. Step 3: Dip a match stick in the liquid soap. Step 4: Gently dip the matchstick in the bowl of water containing pepper, Starting the stopwatch at the same time. Step 5: Observe carefully and record your observations. Step 6: Repeat the same procedure with different variables.

I observed that as soon as I dipped the matchstick with

liquid soap inside the bowl of water containing the variables, the variables moved away towards the side of the bowl. This happened because of a theory called Surface Tension. Surface Tension is a unique property of water where the water behaves like a stretched elastic skin and sticks together. This occurs only when the liquid surface is in contact with air. I changed the variables to observe the effect of the soap on them.

 I conclude my experiment by learning that the soap

breaks the surface tension of the water and so the variables move away from the soap. I also discovered that surface tensions acts differently on different variables. Some more examples on Surface Tension are: 1. Insects walking on water. 2. Needle or paper clips floating on water.