What Substance Melts Ice the Fastest?

Hypothesis:

We think the salt will melt ice the fastest because we observe salt melting ice on the sidewalk in our natural world.

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Background #1: Salt

When salt is added to ice or snow, it creates a saltwater solution that has a lower freezing point (that is -21.1 degrees celsius) than pure water.

Background# 2: Baking Soda

When baking soda is added to ice and snow, it can create a fizzy, bubbly reaction, producing carbon dioxide gas, that also contributes to melting the ice faster than without baking soda.

Background #3: Sugar

Adding sugar to ice will cause it to melt faster because sugar, like salt, lowers the freezing point of water, making it harder for water to solidify into ice.

Salt, baking soda, sugar

Methodology:

• Selected four equal size ceramic bowls

• Placed 30 milliliters of salt in one bowl, 30 milliliters of sugar in one bowl and 30 milliliters of baking soda in the third bowl

• The fourth bowl was the control with no substance

• Placed one machine made ice cube (equal sizes) in each of the four bowls

• The room temperature was 18 degrees celsius

Discussion:

We observed that salt melts the ice the fastest followed by baking soda, then the control group, then the sugar

• We think the salt melted the ice the fastest because it lowered the freezing point the most

• We think sugar melted the ice slowest because sugar is a covalent compound meanwhile salt is a ionic compound

Conclusion:

In conclusion the salt melted the ice the fastest with baking soda coming in second and sugar coming in third.

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Future implications:

If you want a substance that will melt your ice quickly but not too fast go with baking soda.

Based on our experiment, you can actually use sugar to isolate ice

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