Caitlin and Ann Marie's Science Fair Project

"Ice Melters"

ICE MELTERS:

INTRODUCTION

In our project we were trying to find out which substance melts ice most quickly: road salt, fertilizer, kitty litter, calcium chloride, or wood ashes. We also were trying to determine if ice will melt more quickly on its own, uncovered by any substance.

HYPOTHESIS

Road salt will melt ice more quickly than the other four (4) substances and more quickly than the untreated ice.

MATERIALS

6 sturdy aluminum pans (22.5 x 32.5 cm) , water, labeling strips, pencil, freezer, watch, ruler, 336 g each of:

road salt, calcium chloride, fertilizer, kitty litter, wood ashes,

RESEARCH/SOURCES OF INFORMATION

We started by researching how our own city of St. John’s, Newfoundland, melts ice. Next, we looked at how some other cities melt ice. We also studied the cost and problems of two common ice melters, road salt and calcium chloride.

VOCABULARY

Ice Melter : any substance that breaks the bond of ice or snow to the street;

Calcium Chloride: a substance produced when ordinary road salt reacts with calcium carbonate;

Road Salt: sodium chloride, a naturally occurring mineral;

Wood Ashes: residue left when wood is burned;

Kitty Litter: a commercial mixture that absorbs water and odour;

Fertilizer: a chemical substance that enriches soil and promotes growth;

EXPERIMENT

We experimented by covering individual pans of ice with a different substance as listed above. One pan of ice was not covered and served as our control.

RESULTS

Calcium chloride melted ice fastest and wood ash was the slowest. Second fastest melter was road salt, followed by uncovered ice, fertilizer, and kitty litter.

CONCLUSION

We thought road salt would melt ice fastest because it was the ice melter used by most cities. But calcium chloride worked faster than road salt and faster than the other substances we used.

PROJECT SUMMARY

1. How did we come up with our project idea ?

We came up with our project idea when we saw a catchy title in a science fair book. Also, it is winter here and our city is busy melting ice, so our topic seemed to be a suitable one to investigate.

What did we learn from our experiment ?

We learned that calcium chloride melted ice faster than road salt, fertilizer, kitty litter, and wood ashes. It also melted ice faster than not covering the ice with any substance at all. We learned, too, that the actual experiment took hours longer than we expected !

How close were our hypothesis and conclusion ?

We guessed that road salt (sodium chloride) would melt ice faster than the other substances because most cities in North America use road salt. However, we concluded that it was calcium chloride which melted ice the fastest.

4. 4. Did we learn anything from our project ?

We learned that calcium chloride is more expensive than road salt and not as readily available, but it is less harmful to the environment.

5. 5. What was the most interesting part of our project ?

The most interesting part was checking the experiment every ten minutes and measuring the melt to see whether road salt or

calcium chloride was melting ice faster.

· Caitlin & Ann Marie

· Grade 5

· Mr. Murray, e97pem@mun.ca

· St. Bonaventure’s College

· St. John’s , NL Canada

Melting Ice on Roads