Introduction
Stratification of ocean water is a naturally occurring phenomenon that is important to the structure, circulation and productivity of the oceans. The formation of vertical stratification in the water column is a consequence of water masses with different densities. Water density is strongly influenced by temperature and salinity; with less dense, warmer surface waters floating on top of denser, colder waters. The boundary between the warmer and cold waters is called the thermocline.
Materials
- Two 250 mL beakers, one 500 mL beaker
- Electronic scale
- Glass stirring rod, spoon
- Pickling Salt, Water Samples (warm and cold), and food coloring (yellow and blue)
- Ipad (to take photos for your report)
Procedure
- Empty each 250 mL beaker. Record the weight of the breaker below
- Measure 250 mL of cold water and place into Beaker #1 and 250 mL of warm water into Beaker #2
- Add 20g of salt and 5 drops of blue food coloring to the cold beaker
- Add 5 drops of yellow food coloring to the warm, fresh water
- Mass each beaker PLUS water and record the new mass below:
- Calculate the mass, volume and density of the water in each beaker
Step #1
Beaker #1 107.5g Beaker #2 112.2g |
Step #5
Beaker #1 292.4g Beaker #2 326.3g |
Observations
- The beaker turned green because the warm and cold water mixed, this was because we didn't pout it slow enough.
- We didn't get to see anything in particular because of the mistake we made when mixing the two beakers.
The Big Picture
- I expect that the third layer would be wither a darker color that the blue or a lighter shade of blue.
- In my opinion the third layer would be formed on the top of the second layer.
- I think that the density would be lower than the two layers beneath it for it to be able to float on top.