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Sent in by:
Katherine of Edmonton, AB, Canada
Fast dips sink clips! Can you make a paper clip float?
- bowl of water
- paper towels
- paper clips
- Drop a paper clip in a cup of water. What happens?
- Tear off a piece of paper towel that is slightly larger than the paper clip.
- Place the piece of paper towel on top of the water.
- Gently place another paper clip on the piece of paper towel. Wait a few seconds. Now what happens?
If you drop a paper clip in water, the paper clip sinks. But if you put the paper clip on a piece of paper towel, the paper towel sinks and the paper clip floats. This is because water particles are attracted to each other in all directions, making them "stick" together. However, because there are no water particles above them, the water particles at the surface "stick" only to particles next to and below them. This makes the surface act as if it had a thin "skin". This is called surface tension. The paper towel helps you to lower the paper clip onto the surface gently without breaking the surface tension. If you're very careful, you can float the paper clip on the water without using the paper towel.
Now it's time for you to experiment. What happens if you add a drop of liquid soap to the water while the paper clip is floating? Or, what happens if you put the paper clip in another liquid, like vegetable oil or soda water? Share your thoughts with other ZOOMers by sending them to ZOOM through our special feedback area. We'll post a whole bunch of them right here every week!
Danny, age 7 of Upper Darby, PA wrote:
I was surprised to see the paper clip really floating on the surface of the water. The paper sank but the paper clip did not sink. My mom and I talked about what made the paper clip float.
Mason, age 8 of Houma, LA wrote:
it holded 3 intil it sank.
ZOOM Fan, age 11 of Rayong, Thailand wrote:
When I did the experiment in class with some of my friends, the results revealed were: it didn't float!! (remember; this was only our first trial...and maybe because I was a bit heavy handed.) but finally we got the paper-clip to float, then we went to the next stage of dropping a drop of soapy water into the beaker. It was quite shocking when this happened because all our hard work of trying to "desperately" make the paper-clip float was then ruined and destroyed by just one weenie drop of soapy water!! (Absolutely unbelievable!!!) Anyway, It was great fun and I did some extra research about why that happened too... very interesting.
Kyle, age 10 of WI wrote:
it floated due to surface tension. Also because of the air pockets that build up inside the paper clip.
Olivia, age 11 of Yankton, SD wrote:
my friend did this project and it really worked good! the paper clip stayed floating for two days! everybody liked it.
Jackie, age 11 of Yankton, SD wrote:
It worked right away. if you want to do a Floating Paper Clips for a school project you will sure to get an A+.
Samantha, age 10 of Visalia, CA wrote:
The surface tension of the water, i. e., how the water molecules attract each other, holds up the paper clip. However, soap breaks down the surface tension and in this case, the water can no longer hold up the paper clip. also think it is because the soap water is too heavy for the paper clips. And the medal paper clips sink down to the bottom of the plate and don't float to the top because the surface tension can't hold up the soap.
Aljon, age 15 of Phillipines wrote:
good it is true, now I know what is surface tension. thank you
Bridget, age 13 of Scranton, PA wrote:
it worked and it was AMAZING
Samantha, age 10 of Visalia, CA wrote:
I tried it and it worked then add a surtain type of soap and wala it sinks the surtain type of soap is the soap you wash your hands with can not be AROBONE!
Samantha, age 10 of Visalia, CA wrote:
I did it but what happened? I think it is because the soap water is too heavy for the paper clips. And, the medal paper clips sink down to the bottom of the plate and donít float to the top because the surface tension can't hold up the soap. I am doing a sceince fair project on "Why do paper clips float on water and not soap water?"
ZOOM Fan, age 11 of Houston, TX wrote:
wow it worked!!! this was a really cool project!
Terry, age 12 of Chicago, IL wrote:
The paper clip float until the water moved
Goege of FL wrote:
first we put a piece of paper towel and then a paper clip we figgerd out that the more weight under the towell like vinager held it up better.
Taylor, age 11 of Jonesboro, GA wrote:
The paper clip floated to the bottom of the glass
Ashley, age 11 of Geneva, FL wrote:
i put the first one in and it sank. then I put the paper towel in and THEN put the second one on top and it flouted after the paper towel sank. But DONT USE THE BIG PAPER CLIPS OR BOTH OF THEM SINK! I TRYED IT!
Andrew, age 9 of Wahiwa, Hawai'i wrote:
the clip sank with the paper towel
Reggie, age 16 of Overland Park, KS wrote:
My paper clip floated when I put the paper towel in and when I took it out the paper clip was still floating
Sarah, age 10 of Mesa, AZ wrote:
When I did the experiment all the paper clips did was float on top of the paper towle!!! So for me it did not work.
Sierra, age 13 of Parker, CO wrote:
I could not believe it when the paper clip was floating on top of the water. I thought that it was impossible. I tried it with mountain dew and it sunk!! And when I added soap the soap actually pushed the paper clip and then the paper clip sunk.
ZOOM Fan, age 12 of Paso Robles, CA wrote:
The paper clip did not float. I will re-do it and I will tell.
Kara, age 13 of Melbourne, Australia wrote:
We did it at school. It was actually pretty boring but I guess it was interesting. We didn't use paper towels, we just put it in gently. It floated and then when we added a drop of detergent, it broke the surface tension and the paper clip instantly sank!
Taylor, age 9 of Cape Town wrote:
the papper clips floated.
Lily, age 8 of Colorado Springs, CO wrote:
At school we did it with clay and we tryd to make a clay look like a boat ant myne kept sinking but lots of peple got it to work.
Valerie, age 9 of Gardena, CA wrote:
The first paperclip sank to the bottom. The second paperclip was floating on top of the paper towel. After about a minute the paper sank to the bottom and the paperclip stayed floating.
Gabrielle, age 13 of Montreal, QC wrote:
i tried it in my bath tub and it really worked!! even with 5 paperclips!! it was awesome!!
Brianna, age 9 of S. Ozone Park, NY wrote:
welll, I found out that the key is to put it in gently.
Ruman, age 16 of Paterson, NJ wrote:
i got to cups of water and put two paper clips in each and I was shocked to see that it actually floats.
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