DOES WATER
CONDUCT
ELECTRICITY?
ISABELLA GILMAN| MRS. MCNEES| SYRACUSE
JR HIGH
PROBLEM:
• DOES WATER CONDUCT ELECTRICITY?
RESEARCH
• FACTS ABOUT CONDUCTIVITY:
• TO BE CONDUCTORS THERE MUST BE AN EMPTY SPACE IN THE VALANCE SHELL
• INSULATORS DO NOT CONDUCT ELECTRICITY BECAUSE THE VALENCE SHELL IS
FULL
• YOU DO NOT ENCOUNTER PURE WATER IN THE NATURAL WORLD
• WATER IS AN EXCELLENT SOLVENT
• CITATIONS :
• PAUL FISHBANE, STEPHEN GASIOROWICZ, STEPHEN THORNTON, PAUL TIPPLER;
CONDUCTION; PBS SCIENCE WEBSITE
HTTP://WWW.PBS.ORG/TRANSISTOR/SCIENCE/INFO/CONDUCTORS.HTML
• HOWARD PERLMAN; ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND WATER; USGS WEBSITE;
UPDATED 2014
HTTP://WATER.USGS.GOV/EDU/ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY.HTML
HYPOTHESIS
• IF I SEND AN ELECTRICAL CURRENT THROUGH DISTILLED
WATER, THEN THE WATER WILL NOT CONDUCT
ELECTRICITY BECAUSE THE VALENCE SHELL OF THE ATOMS
THAT MAKE UP WATER ARE FULL.
PROCEDURE: MATERIALS
• DISTILLED WATER
• SALT
• MEASURING CUP
• MULTIMETER (MEASURES THE RESISTANCE THAT THE
ELECTRICITY FACES)
PROCEDURE: STEPS
1. FILL A THE MEASURING CUP WITH ONE CUP OF DISTILLED
WATER
2. MEASURE RESISTANCE WITH MULTIMETER IN KILA Ω
3. ADD ¼ TSP OF SALT
4. MEASURE K/Ω
5. ADD ANOTHER ¼ TSP OF SALT
6. MEASURE K/Ω
7. RECORD DATA
VARIABLES
• CONSTANTS: AMOUNT OF WATER, DISTANCE APART THE
PROBES ARE
• CONTROLLED VARIABLE: DISTILLED WATER
• INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: AMOUNT OF SALT IN THE WATER
• DEPENDENT VARIABLE: K/Ω (AMOUNT OF RESISTANCE,
WITH ZERO BEING NO RESISTANCE)
DATA/OBSERVATIONS
Distilled
Water
353 K/Ω
¼ tsp salt
5.2 K/Ω
½ tsp salt
4.2 K/Ω
Resistance to
Conductivity
800
740
600
353
400
We redid the
test after
rinsing the
measuring
cup with
distilled
water and
using
distilled
740 K/Ω
200
0
cup rinsed
with
Distilled
5.2
4.2
1/4 tsp
1/2 tsp
salt
salt
distilled
Resistance to Conductivity
CONCLUSION
• AFTER MY EXPERIMENT, I LEARNED THAT WATER DOES NOT
CONDUCT ELECTRICITY, DESPITE THE COMMON BELIEF.
WATER IS ACTUALLY AN INSULATOR AND THE THINGS
DISSOLVED IN THE WATER ARE WHAT CONDUCTS
ELECTRICITY. MY HYPOTHESIS WAS SUPPORTED BECAUSE
DISTILLED WATER SHOWED HIGHER RESISTANCE TO
ELECTRICITY THAN WATER WITH SALT.