Name ___________________

Miraculous Molecule Lab

(Focusing on the Properties of Water)

I. Making Mayonnaise
Egg yolk contains a substance called lecithin which is considered to be a detergent (Charged on
one end and non-charged on the other end). Cooking oil is considered to be a type of lipid and is
therefore, a Polar (polar/nonpolar) molecule. Add 25 mL of vinegar and 25 mL of cooking oil to a beaker.
Mix and observe. Do the two substances completely mix together? ___No___ Propose a hypothesis to
explain why or why not.

The two sides don’t completely mix because the non-charged end repels the other molecules so neither
of them can bond to each other and mix together.

Break open an egg into two parts. Pour the yolk back and forth between the shells until all that is left is
yolk. Place the yolk into the beaker containing the vinegar & oil mixture and mix again. Is there a visible
difference when the yolk is added? Explain. The color of the liquid changed, and the egg yolk mixed with
the vinegar, but it still is separated from the oil, there was a small amount of mixing but they did not
completely mix together.

What “preliminary food product was made by mixing egg yolk, oil and vinegar? Mayonaise Why do you
think it is useful to add eggs to dough, cookie mix, cake mix or brownie mix when baking? When we add
these things that the solution becomes less watery, and lets the oil and mix to the other ingredients.

Questions

1. Which substance (oil/vinegar/egg yolk) would be considered hydrophobic? Hydrophilic? Explain.

The oil is hydrophobic, and it will not mix with the water, while the vinegar was hydrophilic and did
dissolve with the water. The vinegar is hydrophilic. And the egg has an end that is both hydrophilic and
one that is hydrophobic.

2. Which substance(s) should be able to dissolve in water? Explain.

Any molecule that has a polar end will attach to one of the two sides that are polar on the water
molecules. If a molecule has one positive and one negative side then it will completely dissolve in the
water. A not polar molecule will not dissolve in the water.

II. What Makes Water Wet?

 Fill a 500 mL beaker with tap water. Place 5 drops of red, blue, or green food coloring into the
water and mix with a stirring rod. Place a .1 mL glass capillary tube into the water with the pointed end
down. Measure the distance between the water level in the beaker and the water level in the glass tube.
Which unit of measurement would be most sensible to use? A meniscus (dip) may form at the surface of
the water inside the capillary tube so take your measurements from the lowest point of the meniscus.
Repeat this procedure using a 5 mL and a 10 mL glass tube.

Making Predictions

Do you think the distance water travels up the capillary tube will be the same for all three tubes? No If
not, which tube do you think will show the greatest distance? Why?

I think that the one that is skinniest will have the water go the farthest up the side, I think that this will
happen because, the small measure of diameter will cause the water to adhere to the sides more and
the water will go up the sides higher.

Design a table in the space below to record your data. Don’t forget a title and column headings!

Questions

1. Was there a difference in the distance water travelled between the three tubes? Explain.
The first one was the only one that traveled up the side of the tube at all. The other ones did not
travel up the side at all. This was because the adhesive forces were stronger in a smaller tube.

Label the diagram below using the following terms: meniscus, adhesive forces, glass wall, cohesive forces
2. In which tube did water creep the highest? Why?
It creeped highest in the tube that had the smallest diameter, in this case the .1 mm diameter,
this is because of the strong adhesive and cohesive forces. Another reason that this is happening
is that the water is attracted to the close glass, and the surface area was more due to the bigger
tubes.

3. Explain why water “beads” up on a waxed car versus an unwaxed car. Hint: waxes are
hydrophobic.
Water beads up on waxed surfaces because the wax is repelling the water. This is because the wax is
a non-charged molecule, so it does not bond with the wax paper at all. The water sticks to each
other because it cannot stick with the other wax paper.

4. Higher plants use xylem tissue (a series of hollow tubes) to transport water from the roots to the
leaves. This is an incredible feat since plants must transport water sometimes huge distances
against the pull of gravity. The major source of suction occurs when water evaporates through
small structures located at the bottom of leaves called stomata. Explain how water’s cohesive
and adhesive forces are crucial to water transport through the xylem. Hint: Xylem tissue is lined
with cell walls composed of cellulose (a carbohydrate that does, in fact, have a charge) .
The water sticks to itself so that it doesn’t seep out of the plant, the adhesive forces will make it stick to the
wall so that it can climb up the sides of the xylem wall and when this happens the new water sticks to the
water that creeps up. And then it all repeats. The water is attracted to the walls of the plants, and sticks to
them and then goes higher up into the plant.

III. Surface Tension

Fill a 500 mL beaker to the top. Fold a 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm piece of tin foil in half and hold it about 10
inches above the beaker. Drop it in the water. A) Does it sink or float? _____Float____ Next, take
another 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm piece of tin foil and form in into a tight ball. Hold your hand at the same
distance above the beaker and drop it into the water. B) Does it sink or float?
_____Sink____________ C) Should the tin foil ball have been any heavier than the sheet? No
D) Explain the results. ____The first on floated because it was pushing less on the surface tension of
the water. The weight of the larger one was spread out so that the pressure in any given space was
not strong enough to break the surface tension of the water. Water striders are small insects that
survive by living their life on the surface of ponds & & lakes. By scurrying across the surface of water,
 they eat, escape predators, and find mates. Explain why detergents can be detrimental to these
organisms if released into freshwater systems.

The detergents will attract the water so that the surface tension will break and then the bugs wont
be able to go across the water and get food, or do any other basic life function.

IV. Acids and Bases

Water is considered to be both an acid and a base because it releases equal amounts (_10−7
moles/liter) of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxide (OH-) ions. If a solution contains more H+ than OH- ions,
it is considered ________acid_____. If it contains more OH- than H+ ions, it is considered
______base_______. The pH table represents a measurement of the strength of acids and bases.
The numbers on the table correlate with the concentration of ___hydrogen__ ions.

Place the following molecules on the pH table based on their ion concentration.
Tomatoes (10-4 H+); Ammonia (10-3 OH-); Vinegar (10-3 H+); 1 molar NaOH (100 OH-); 1 molar nitric
acid (100 H+); Seawater (10-6 OH); Baking soda (10-9 H+); Stomach Acid (10-13 OH-); Pure Water (10-7
H+/10-7 OH-)

_____________________________________________________________
0 2 4 6 7 8 10 12 14

Acid Vinegar Tomatoes Water Baking Soda

Stomach Acid Seawater Ammonia NaOH

1. Comparing stomach acid and tomatoes, which substance releases a greater concentration of H+
ions? How much greater? How does pH compare between the two?
The tomatoes release less hydrogen then the stomach acid does the pH is three numbers higher
so the tomatoes release one thousand times less than the stomach acid does.

2. Comparing sea water to NaOH, which solution would produce a greater amount of H+ ions? OH-
ions? How does pH compare between the two?
NaOH releases more OH- but less H+ then the sea water. The pH is six higher for the NaOh so it
releases 1,000,000 times more Oh- and that many times less H+
Add H+ and OH- ions to each diagram below. The circles represent water molecules.

Acidic Neutral Basic

(Add 9 ions) (Add 8 ions) (Add 9 ions)