The Case of the Missing Ice

NAME ______Date ______

Purpose: Frosty the Snowman lies melting in the funnels at your lab station! There were no eyewitnesses, but there are several suspects. All the suspects have holes in their alibis. You need to determine the exact time at which Frosty was put into the funnels to melt away.

Procedure: 1. Immediately record the volume of Frosty’s melted remains (water) in your graduated cylinder and note the time on the clock. 2. At regular intervals (you decide how long) record the time on the clock and the volume of water in the graduated cylinder. 3. Stop after about 30 minutes, unless Frosty has completely melted earlier.

Data:

Time Volume Time Volume 7:42 5.1 mL 7:43 5.3 mL 7:44 5.6 mL 7:45 5.8 mL 7:46 6.0 mL 7:47 6.4 mL 7:48 6.7 mL 7:49 7.1 mL 7:50 7.3 mL 7:51 7.5 mL 7:52 7.8 mL 7:53 8.1 mL 7:54 8.3 mL 7:55 8.5 mL 7:56 8.9 mL 7:57 9.1 mL

Analysis: 1. What are the units for the rate at which Frosty melted? (For example, did he melt in cm/hour? g/min? L/day? ______2. Think about making a graph from your data. Look at which units you decided to use for the rate of melting. The y-axis is the FIRST part of the units you used for rate of melting. The x- axis is the SECOND part of the units you used for the rate of melting. Y-axis______X-axis______

3. What volume will you start with at the origin of your graph? Why did you choose that number? ______

4. Estimate when you think Frosty met his demise. Explain how you got your estimate. ______

5. Using your answers to questions 1 through 4, set up your graph and graph your data on graph paper.

6. Using your graph, find the exact time Frosty start to melt. How close is this time to the time you estimated in question 4?

7. Describe the shape of your graph. ______