[AngelShare]

I had to do a lab where I put hot water (colored red) in one small jar and cold (colored blue) in another. Then, I put them together to see if they'd mix or not. Basically, we were testing density. I did the lab but when it came time to answering some questions, two kind of confused me...

1. Based on your observations in the lab, what do you think happens to the majority of water (not ice) at the poles?

2. Based on your observations in the lab, what do you think happens to the majority of water at the equator?

What do they mean, "What happens"?

[AngelShare]

Ah, here are two more questions I need to take notes on that I can't figure out...

Would you expect the water in the polar regions to have a high salinity? Why or why not?

What aspect of the marine environment in the Bay of Fundy allows for such high numbers of organisms?

[AngelShare]

No help?:cry2:

[Karakth]

1. Based on your observations in the lab, what do you think happens to the majority of water (not ice) at the poles?

2. Based on your observations in the lab, what do you think happens to the majority of water at the equator?

What do they mean, "What happens"?

I believe the question is asking you what currents are created, if any.

[AngelShare]

I'm not sure...the lab helped me to understand how density works but we haven't applied that to anything yet, really. All I know is, cold water is denser than hot water...

...Right?:blush:

[mike]

Water temperature at the equator is higher than at the poles. Similar to your lab the water at the poles is the "cold" water and the water at the equator is the "hot" water. SO whatever happened in the lab should happen at the poles and equator eg cold water may sink below warm water or travel form hot to cold area etc.

Generally salt dissolve better in warm water than cold so I would guess that the poles are less salty than the equator (I think the icebergs are quite pure water, very little salt)

I don't know where the bay of fundy is sorry.

[Jennybeans]

Hi,
From your experiment, i think you should have found that the hot water rises to the top because it is less dense than cold water (because heat gives the water molecules more energy to move apart, therefore the water will expand, become less dense andmove to the top). To answer your questions, you shuld apply this knowledge to the two scenario's- water at the poles and water at the equator, where the temperatures are obviously opposite.
Hope that helps!!!
Good luck!

[AngelShare]

So wouldn't it be just the same thing/way? The water at the poles would be the same as the water at the equator in that you'd find the cooler water at the bottom and the warmer at the top...

[mike]

So wouldn't it be just the same thing/way? The water at the poles would be the same as the water at the equator in that you'd find the cooler water at the bottom and the warmer at the top...

Yes, but you would also get convection currents where the warm and cold water move to equilibrate. The cold water from the poles may "slide" under the warm water from the equator (probably not quite as drastic as that but you get the idea).

Did you know that water is most dense at 4 degrees C? Cool huh!

[AngelShare]

Why is water most dense at 4 degrees C?

[mike]

Water is a uniques molecule. As you know ice will float on water (it is less dense) and this is unusual because most solids are more dense than their liquid and gas (not less dense!)

I would assume it has something to do with the intermolecular interactions between water molecules at 0 C the molecules are further apart than say at 25 C making the ice less dense. Presumably water molecules pack closest together at 4 C (someone else may know more details of this than I do).

So the water at the bottom of lakes is generally 4 C, interesting!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water

[mithrilhack]

convection currents