Shapes+of+Ice+Cubes

**Title** The Ice Cube Effect

Problem Scenario
They might be interested in wanting to make their ice cubes last longer when in a drink.

Broad Question
Ice cubes and how quickly they melt. **Specific Question** Does the shape of the ice cube affect how quickly it melts?

Hypothesis
The shape of the ice will affect how quickly it melts because a circle ice cube would melt faster than a regular ice cube.

Variables
Independent Variable:Shape of the ice cube. Dependent Variable:How quickly it melts.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: The amount of water, the temperature of the room, temperature of freezing time, what kind of liquid is freezing.

General Plan
I plan to set up a science experiment were i'll freeze water. Then take them out and let them melt at their own time at a temperature of about 69 degrees because that is room temperature. The shape of the ice cubes will probably be square, oval, and circular. while they are melting I will be timing them as they melt. After they are done i'll make a graph chart to show the time of them melting.

Potential Problems And Solutions
Possibly my dog could knock down the ice cubes while their melting. To stop that from happening i'll do the experiment at school. Someone could effect the ice cubes at school while their melting.To stop that i'll do it after school so I will be the only one around.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
1. The room could be to cold or warm. 2. To much sun could get in and melt the ice cubes faster.

Experimental Design
(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

 * Item || Number needed || Where I will get this || Cost ||
 * oval ice cube tray || 1 || Walmart || 7.00 ||
 * circle ice cube tray || 1 || Walmart || 7.00 ||

Detailed Procedure
1. Get materials to make different shaped ice cubes. 2. Then freeze the the water at freezing temperature. 3. Take the ice cube out and make sure they are melting at a temperature of 68 degrees. 4. Ten make a bar graph off the data you calculated.

Photo List
Picture of the different ice cubes. The ice melting. picture of graph

Time Line

 * 2/10/13 get materials
 * 2/15/13 do the experiment
 * 2/16/13 make a bar graph of the data
 * 3/2/13 start the poster
 * 3/15/13 finish the poster and every thing.
 * 3/20-29/13 practice presentation

Results
This graph shows the melting time of ice cubes. As seen in the graph the circle ice cubes took the shortest amount of time. The oval ice cubes took almost the longest but they didn't. The square ice cubes took the longest to melt out of all the ice cubes. The circle ice cubes took just about 2700 seconds. The oval ice cubes took about 5600 seconds in all. The square ice cubes took 6700 seconds to melt.

Conclusion
The question to the experiment is what shape of ice cube melts fastest. My hypothesis was correct and the circle ice cube was the fastest to melt. This is proven on the graph. The one that took the longest was the square and the oval came in second and the circle was the shortest time to melt as seen on the graph.

Discussion
The experiment showed on the graph didn't show many patterns, but the pattern it did show was interesting. What pattern was shown was that all the ice cubes melted in order. As for instance the first ice cube came first then the second, the third, fourth, and last the fifth. Showing that they melted in order. The relation ship of the independent and depended variables was very strong in this experiment. Because if the shape was bigger or wider it would effect its time of melting. With this experiment I was able to find the answer to my question. With the way the experiment went, there weren't any problems. If i were to do the experiment over again I would change the way I would have described the way the experiment went more descriptive.

Benefit to Community and/or Science
This experiment benefits to the community, because people want to know how long it takes for an ice cube to melt. It could make it so their drinks stay cooler for longer.

Background Research
The first ice cube made was by John Gorrie. He was a American physician. Although he made the first ice cubes he didn't use the ice cubes to cool drinks. He used them to freeze reptiles. The normal freezing temperature for water is 32 degrees. Although John Gorrie made the first ice cube, he just cut of little peaces off a big block. Loyd Copeman he was the first person to make a rubber ice cube tray. He got the idea of making a ice cube tray out of rubber when he was walking in the woods. The snow on the ground, and slush would stick to his rubber boots giving him the idea of making a rubber ice cube tray. The ice cube tray was made in 1928. Guy Tikham was the first person to make a stainless, flexible steel ice cube tray. You would get the ice cubes out by flexing it side ways and letting the ice cubes slide out. Guy after his thoughtful invention was then elected president of the ice cube company he worked for.

Abstract
The experiment how does the shape of the ice cube affect how quickly it melts, is about a bunch of different shaped ice cubes which are square oval and circle. What the project is about is that you freeze ice cubes so you can melt them. You melt the ice cubes in glass cup at a temperature of 70 degrees. This science project is very nice and fun to do. It's easy and isn't that hard to do. It was lots of fun and doesn't take up that much time. The duration of the project was about 2:00. I would recommend this for a person who is new to science experiments.