Name: ______________________________________ Date: _______________________

Student Exploration: Phases of Water

Vocabulary: boil, condense, density, freeze, gas, liquid, melt, molecule, phase, solid, volume

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. A pot filled with snow is left on a hot stove for a while. What would happen?

_the snow turns in to a liquid(water)__________________________________

2. A phase is a state of matter, such as a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Which phases would you

see? Explain. _________________All of them in different ways like solid a pencil and a

liquid water and gas like vapored water. __________

3. A phase change is a change from one phase to another. What phase changes would you

see in this example? _______________liquid______________________

Gizmo Warm-up
In the Phases of Water Gizmo, you can heat up or cool down a
beaker of water.

1. Press Heat to heat up the water. Wait until the temperature

__________________________all the water starts to be

2. Why do you think the lid lifts up? _____________________________There is too much
vapor that makes the lip open.__________________

_________________________________________________________________________

3. Now press Chill to remove thermal energy from the water. What happens now? _________

_________The water is freezing__________________________________________

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 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
 If necessary, press Chill and wait until the
Phases of water
temperature is -20 °C.

Question: How does temperature affect the phase of water?

1. Observe: In the Gizmo, solid ice is gray, liquid water is blue, and water vapor gas is light
blue. Heat or Chill the water as needed to reach the temperatures below.

A. What phase is the water in at -20 °C? (Circle one): -> solid liquid
gas

B. What phase is the water in at 30 °C? (Circle one): solid ->liquid

C. What phase is the water in at 105 °C? (Circle one): solid liquid ->
gas

2. Hypothesis: How does the temperature affect the phase of water? ____________________

__________________________________The hottest the water will be started to turn into a

3. Predict: Predict the phase of water at the six temperatures given below. List your predictions
in the Predicted phase row of the table. Then fill in the Actual phase row using the Gizmo.

Temperature -10 °C 10 °C 50 °C 90 °C 110 °C 120 °C

4. Analyze: While testing your predictions, you may have noticed that there were specific
temperatures at which the phase of the water always changed.

A. At what temperature does water melt (change from solid to liquid)? 10 C_____

B. At what temperature does water boil (change from liquid to gas)? _____100 c___

C. At what temperature does water condense (change from gas to liquid)? 100 c_____

D. At what temperature does water freeze (change from liquid to solid)? 0.0 c________

5. Extend your thinking: Describe an example of a phase change you’ve seen in real life.

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__________The solid ice , liquid water and the gas water vaper. ________________

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 Activity B:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Comparing
 Click Chill until the water is completely frozen.
phases

Question: How are the phases of water different from one another?

1. Form hypothesis: One of the three phases holds its shape. The other two do not.

A. Based on your experience, which phase has a fixed shape? ____solid________

B. Which phases have a shape that can change? ______gas_______ and

____liquid_________

2. Observe: Water is made of small particles called molecules. Use the magnifying glass to
see the molecules of ice. Then click Heat to observe the liquid and gas phases. Draw a
sketch of the molecules in each phase below.

Solid Liquid Gas

............................................... . .. . . . .. .
.
............................................... ..
..................................... .
.
.
.
. . … .. .

3. Analyze: Based on your sketches, why do solids have a fixed shape while liquids and gases

do not? __The molecules are in a small space and the others have a lot of space_____

4. Observe: Another way that phases are different is how they fill a container. Press Chill until
the water is completely frozen. Observe the ice without the magnifying glass.

A. Does the ice reach the top of the container, where the lid is? _____no_______

B. Click Heat until the ice is gone. Does the liquid water reach the top? ___no______

C. Click Heat until the water boils. Does the water vapor reach the top? ___yes_____

5. Draw conclusions: Which phase always fills its container? ____gas_______

Which phases do not always fill their containers. _____liquid_____ and _____solid_____

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 Extension:
Get the Gizmo ready:
Volume and
 Press Chill until the water is completely frozen.
density

Introduction: The density of a substance refers to how much matter is packed into a particular
space, or volume. The denser the object, the more “tightly packed” it is. Objects that are less
dense tend to float in denser materials.

Question: How do phases of water compare in volume and density?

1. Form hypothesis: Answer the following questions based on your personal experience and
the observations you have made of the Gizmo:

A. Does an ice cube in water float or sink? _______float_______

B. When water boils, bubbles of water vapor form in the water. Do these bubbles tend

to rise or sink? __________rise________________

C. Which phase of water is densest? ______solid____ Least dense? _____gas___

2. Observe: Be sure all the water is frozen. Open the Tools tray at upper right, and drag an
arrow to mark the top of the ice. Then press Heat. Watch until all the ice has melted.

A. Does the liquid water take up as much space as the ice? _The liquid turns into gas__

B. Wait until all the water has boiled away. Which takes up more space, the liquid water

or the water vapor? _________water vapor__________

C. Which phase of water is densest? ________solid____ Least dense? ___gas____

(Note: In most substances, the solid phase is densest. Water is unusual.)

3. Extend your thinking: Look at all three phases of water through the magnifying glass. How
does the spacing of molecules fit with what you found about densities of ice, liquid water,
and water vapor?

______________________The more molecules the denser like the solid but the liquid has
less molecules. The gas has one or two the makes it the least
dense.________________________________________

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