There may not be snow on the ground right now, but you can simulate frosty wintertime in your home with this fun experiment!
Water has three states—solid (ice), liquid (drinking water), and gas or vapor (steam from a tea kettle). Frost is water vapor that freezes solid, which is why we often see it on the grass early in the mornings.
Let’s make some frost!
You will need:
-empty tin can, with the label removed
-crushed ice
-salt
-piece of paper
-teaspoon
-water
Safety precaution: The edges of cans can be sharp, so we recommend covering any sharp edges with duct tape or something similar.
Fill the empty steel can 2/3 full with crushed ice.
Spread about a teaspoon of water on a piece of paper. Place it underneath the can.
Then, fill the remainder of the can with salt and mix with the ice. Keep mixing for a few minutes.
Within minutes, frost will start to appear on the outside of the can!
Why is this happening? The air around us holds a lot of water, and usually we see this as condensation on windows or dew grass. The water vapor in the air will change to frost when the surface temperatures are below the freezing point of water. When we added salt to the ice, it lowered the melting point of the ice, making the surface of the can be below freezing! Our condensation froze into frost!
Can you see the crystals of ice on your can?
