MYP SCIENCE LAB REPORT Date: Name:

Introduction
Briefly describe your experiment and the purpose of it.

The objective of this experiment is to explore the relationship between the conductivity of water
and varying concentrations of salt. Conductivity, a measure of a substance's ability to conduct
electricity, is influenced by the presence of ions in solution. By altering the concentration of salt,
an electrolyte, we aim to investigate how the conductivity of water is affected.

B.iii
.
Independent variable The variable that I will change is the grams of salt added in the
(x axis) water
It will vary from 0 to 33

Dependent variable The variable that I will measure is the conductibility of the water
(y axis) I will measure it in this way: By using an ammeter connected with
some crocodile clips to the water

Controlled variables The variables that need to remain constant throughout the
experiment are temperature, amount of water, amount of volts that
we conduct the water with, type of salt, type of water
I will make sure these stay the same by not changing them.

B.i Define the Problem

How is the (dependent variable) conductibility of the water dependent on the (independent
variable) concentration of salt?

B.ii Hypothesis : What you predict, with support from sources

I think the conductibility of the water will increase as salt concentration increases, BECAUSE…
salt dissociates into ions (sodium and chloride) in water, thereby increasing the number of
charge carriers and enhancing the conductivity of the solution. (Montclair State university, n.d.)

B.iv Procedure : Step-by-step list of what you will do.

1. Get 4 beakers, and fill them with sink water;
2. In the second beaker add 11 grams of salt;
3. In the third beaker add 22 grams of salt;
4. In the fourth beaker add 33 grams of salt;
5. Use the stirring rod to dissolve the salt in the water;
6. Connect 2 crocodile clips cables to the 9 volt battery;
7. Put the crocodile clips in the water, make sure that they are not touching;
8. Connect the other 2 crocodile clips to the 2 ends of the ammeter;
9. If you are using an ammeter with different scale options, choose the most precise
one
10. Put them into the water and record the value shown;
11. Repeat from step 5 for beaker number 2, 3 and 4.
B.iv Safety precautions: List of possible hazards and necessary actions to avoid them.

B.iv Materials : Specific list of what you need, including quantities

● Water
● Sodium chloride (table salt), around 66 grams (132 if you want to do 2 trials)
● Weighing scale
● Stirring rod (or anything to stir with)
● 4 Beakers
● Ammeter
● 4 crocodile clips cables
● 9 volt battery

C. i Raw data table (complete of titles and units):

Salt added (g) Electric current (a) (First trial) Electric current (a) (Second
trial)
0 0 0
11 0.2 0.21
22 0.29 0.3
33 0.38 0.33

C.i Data Processing : Write the formulas you use, and show a few examples (if
applicable)

The first, and obvious formula is the average.

The way this formula works is that you add all results and then you divide them for the number
of results to find the average value.
But there is a problem: i am trying to find out the conductivity, not the intensity of the current:
To do this, we need to find its resistance first (Ω).
Ohm’s law states that
V = IR
Where V is the voltage applied to the circuit (in our case 9 volts), I is the amount of current that
is flowing through (Which is the values that we recorded with the ammeter), and R is the
resistance. Taking the first value and trial as example we know that

9V = 0.2A * R
Which we can then use to get the resistance.
9V / 0.2A = R
R = 45Ω
Then, with the conductivity formula we know that
 σ=1/R
This leads to
σ = 1 / 45Ω
σ = 1 / 45Ω
σ = 0.0222…
This means that the conductivity of the first example is 0.0222 Siemens / meter.
Now we can just do this for all the values and make the average at the end.

C.i Processed Data Table : A new table with only your processed data (if applicable)

Salt added (g) Conductivity of the Conductivity of Conductivity of

water (S/m) (First the water (S/m) the water (S/m)
trial) (Second trial) (Average)

0 0 0 0

11 ⁓0.022 ⁓0.023 ⁓0.0225

22 ⁓0.032 ⁓0.033 ⁓0.0325

33 ⁓0.042 ⁓0.037 ⁓0.0395

C.i Graph (remember to include title, labels and units in your graph!)

C.ii Patterns : Explain what your data mean using words like increase or decrease

Upon analyzing the graph, we can notice that as the concentration of salt increases, the
conductivity of water will exhibit an upward trend. This is because a higher concentration of salt
results in more ions being present in the solution, consequently enhancing its conductivity. We
can also notice that the more salt you add, the less conductivity you get from adding more salt.
This tells us that our graph is a parabola, with a vertex at about 40 grams added, which would
be when the water is completely saturated.
C.iii Evaluating the Hypothesis : Discuss your graph and data to evaluate if your
hypothesis was supported or not.

Upon evaluation of the graph, the conductivity of water demonstrates an increase with rising salt
concentration, which provides support for the hypothesis proposed earlier.

C.iv and C.v Evaluating the Method & Suggesting Improvements: Discuss the reliability
and validity of your method, and suggest improvements.

My data is not enough, as I conducted only 2 trials for each concentration of salt, resulting in
an insufficient amount of data points to analyze and draw accurate data from. This leaves us
with enough data to see that my hypothesis is correct, but not enough data to precisely
understand the relation between the salt added and the conductivity of the water. Additionally, I
did not have a wide range of salt concentrations, which further makes it hard to get a clear idea
of the relationship between the 2 variables.

My data is precise/not precise because… My data is precise because I employed precise

measurement techniques, using calibrated equipment such as the ammeter and beakers. I also
took care to record all data accurately and consistently, minimizing random errors in the
measurements. At the same time, I must admit that I think the last variable I recorded (33 grams
of salt added in the second trial) might not be extremely precise due to the fact that I was in a
rush and did not want to have incomplete data. I also want to add that when adding no salt, we
have to remember that I used sink water and not distilled water, which means that those 0s on
the intensity and conductivity tables are not actually 0, but close to it, due to the fact that sink
water contains some slight amount of salt and minerals.

My data is accurate/not accurate because… My data is accurate because I adhered closely

to the procedure and controlled for potential sources of error.

Method (what you actually did) Improvement (how it could improve)

- A worthy thing to note in my - Use safety equipment;

experiment is the unexpected - Use more precise equipment;
reaction that was happening in the - Do more trials;
meantime, and also the reason for - Take values up to 55g of salt;
why my data is slightly inaccurate: - Use distilled water instead of
When I closed the circuit, the table normal water;
salt (NaCl), started dividing into its
bare components due to
electrolysis: Chlorine, which
liberated in the air as gas, and
Sodium, which I honestly have no
idea where it went due to the fact
that it's supposed to react violently
with water. What I did note is that
the pH of the solution also changed:
from a 7 of the normal water, to a
12, which makes it a very basic
 solution. I was also confused by
this value, as I thought that salt
added ions to the water, and that
more ions = acidic solution, hence
why I was confused on why I was
getting a base. The color of the
solution also changed depending
on how much salt i added, going
from a light yellow from a very
strong dark green.

Sources:

References

Montclair State university. (n.d.). Why Measure Conductivity or Salinity? Montclair State

university. Retrieved April 14, 2024, from

https://www.montclair.edu/water-science/environmental-services/conductivity-salinity/