SPENCER’S SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
ABSORPTION OF WATER BY PINTO BEANS
VOCABULARY
• Volume – the amount of space taken up by an object
• Hydrophilic – having an attraction for water
• Porous – water can pass through
• Imbibition – the process of absorbing water
WATER ABSORPTION BY PINTO BEANS (24 HOURS)
9
8
8
7
6
Height of
pinto beans
in cup (cm)
6
5
4
3.7
3
3.1
2
1
0
0
Time (hours)
cup A (water just covering beans)
24
cup B (cup full of water)
WATER ABSORPTION BY PINTO BEANS
(RATE OF ABSORPTION)
9
8.2
8
7.9
7.5
24 hours: seed feels spongy, seed
coat falls off when
scratched. Same size as
16 hours
7.2
7
6.7
cup 1C (cup full of water)
Height of
pinto
beans in
cup (cm)
6.2
6
5
6.4
16 hours: seed bounces back, coat feels
thin, scratch bounced back.
Bigger than at 8 hours
5
8 hours: seed bounces back after being
squeezed. Scratch in seed coat
stayed. Twice the size of bean
at start
4
3
2.5
2
Start: beans small and hard,
can’t scratch seed coat
1
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
Time (hours)
12
24
36
EFFECT OF WEIGHT ON PINTO BEAN WATER ABSORPTION
(DIFFERENT WEIGHTS)
8
7
7.0
6.4
cup 1
cup 2 (+1 cup of sand)
cup 3 (+2 cups of sand)
Cup 4 (+3 cups of sand)
cup 5 (+4 cups of sand)
Height of
pinto
beans in
cup (cm)
6.1
6
6.1
5.8
5.5
5.5
5.1
5
4.7
4.2
4
3.8
3.5
3.2
3
2.5
4.2
3.9
3.7
3.6
3.8
3.5
4.4
4.2
4.1
3.8
4.6
4.4
4.8
4.6
4.5
5.0
4.7
5.2
5.1
4.0
3.2
2.7
2
1
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
Time (hours)
12
24
36