SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT
Do all liquids evaporate at the same rate?
Jake Reynolds| Mrs. Mcnees | Syracuse Jr. High
PROBLEM:
• Do all liquids evaporate at the same rate?
RESEARCH
– 1st point: One experiment found that water evaporated faster than vinegar, but not as
fast as rubbing alcohol.
– 2nd point: Another source said that vinegar will evaporate the fastest.
– 3rd point: A third source said that the liquid with the lightest molecular composition
will evaporate the fastest.
• Citations
• 1st source: Henderson, Mark. "Why do some liquids evaporate faster than
others?." Blurtit. N.p.. Web. 15 Dec 2013.
• 2nd source: Peterson, Susan. "Do water and vinegar evaporate at different
rates?." Answerbag. N.p., 27 Jun 2010. Web. 15 Dec 2013. b
• 3rd source: "Evaporation." Science Daily. N.p.. Web. 15 Dec 2013.
HYPOTHESIS
• If I compare the rate at which different liquids evaporate then I will
see that vinegar will evaporate fastest because it is made up of water
and acetic acid
PROCEDURE: MATERIALS
• 4 Jars
• Water
• Vinegar
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Orange Juice
• Ruler
• Masking Tape
• Marker
PROCEDURE: STEPS
1. Pour 200 mL of each liquid into a separate jar.
2. Label each jar with masking tape and marker.
3. Use ruler to measure the height of the liquid. (Make sure heights are
even.)
4. Place jars in close proximity of each other.
5. Measure the heights of each liquid at same time each day.
6. Record data on Excel
VARIABLES
• Constants: Location of the jars, amount of liquid to start with, and
time of day
• Controlled variables: Evaporation rate of water
• Independent variable: Different liquids in each jar
• Dependent (measured) variable: Amount of liquid evaporated each
day
DATA: OBSERVATIONS
• I observed that most of the time, the liquids evaporated at a constant
rate. Occasionally they would evaporate a larger amount. Water and
orange juice remained fairly even, while rubbing alcohol and vinegar
remained fairly even. But, because I left the jars in the kitchen, the
room temperatures did not remain constant. The liquids had different
reactions to the changing temperatures.
DATA: GRAPH
5.6
5.4
5.2
5
Water
Vinegar
R. Alcohol
O Juice
4.8
4.6
4.4
4.2
4
1/1/2014
1/2/2014
1/3/2014
1/4/2014
1/5/2014
1/6/2014
CONCLUSION
• I learned that the liquids I tested evaporate at very similar rates, but
that they do not evaporate at the same rate. My hypothesis was not
supported because vinegar and rubbing alcohol ended up evaporating
the same amount. However water, my control, evaporated the most.