Kyle Zukowski

Mrs. Risch
2/23/2018
B1
Problem: How would adding water affect the mass of the match

Hypothesis: If the match gets soaked in water for 30 seconds, then it will gain a few
grams of mass.

Variable Identification:
Independent Variable: The time the match was in the water
Dependent Variable: The mass of the match
Constants:
- Time the match was exposed to water
- Mass of the match before exposed to water
Control: Weight of the match not exposed to water

Apparatus Materials

50mL Beaker Pack of matches

Scale

Tweezers

Procedure:
1. Fill the 50ml beaker with 25ml of water
2. Grab a match from the pack and weigh its initial weight
3. Dunk the match in the beaker while holding it with the tweezers for 30 seconds
4. After 30 seconds, pull out the match and weigh it again
5. Record your results, and repeat steps 2-4 for another 2 trials

Results:
Kyle Zukowski
Mrs. Risch
2/23/2018
B1

Conclusion:
In conclusion, our hypothesis was correct. When we dunked the match into the water, it
gained around 0.9g each trial. We saw that by adding water to the match, it affected its
weight slightly. With each trial, we kept the start mass of the match constant so that we
could have constant results. With that, we could have improved the validity of our
experiment. While we were testing, we had to change our procedure from just letting the
match float in the water, to holding it under the water for 30 seconds. We found that by
letting the match float on top of the water, the data proved that the amount of water
absorbed would fluctuate with each trial. By holding the match under the water for the 30
seconds, we were able to get more constant results with our testing.