Skip to main content
This media resource contains experiments that may require adult supervision.

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Pepper scatter experiment

Posted 
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Salt and pepper shakers
Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Pepper scatter experiment

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  5–6


Watch what happens in this pepper scatter experiment by Surfing Scientist, Ruben Meerman.

In this science experiment Ruben demonstrates an important property of water, surface tension, by dipping a toothpick into water sprinkled with pepper.

Find out what happens when detergent is added.


Things to think about

  1. 1.What do you know about the surface tension of water? Predict what will happen when you dip a toothpick coated in detergent into a plate of water with pepper sitting on its surface.
  2. 2.Look at what materials are used in this 'pepper scatter' experiment. Take note of the steps involved in the experiment. What role does the pepper play in the investigation? Compare your prediction to what you observed happen.
  3. 3.How do we know that the detergent had an effect on the surface tension? Modify the experiment and add a control (one where there is no detergent on the toothpick). Write up a procedural report for your science experiment. What evidence is there that detergent has an effect on surface tension?
  4. 4.Recreate the experiment shown in the clip. Then repeat it changing one of the variables, for instance, use pencil shavings instead of pepper; or milk instead of water. (Remember, in a fair test you change only one variable at a time.) Does the experiment work if you repeat it without using fresh water? Why or why not?


Acknowledgements

Image credit: 'salt and pepper shakers', courtesy of KirkD2009, Flickr Commons.


Production Date: 2008


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Posted