Diaper Experiment

Diaper Experiment- Supplies needed:
For this experiment you will need to buy four different brand of diapers in the same size.I bought Luvs, Huggies, Pampers,and Parent choice(Walmart brand). You will also need water, a measuring cup,and food coloring I chose purple but what ever color you want.




Step 1: Add food coloring to water this allows the absorbency to be seen better.
to keep from having to do this step over and over if you want pour water into a empty gallon jug and add the food coloring to it.

Step 2: Pick one of the diapers and pour 1/2 cup of water into it wait until the water is absorb and then add more continue to add water until the diaper is no longer able to absorb. this is when you can take the diaper and hold it up and water pours out. if water is still being absorb then no water will come pour out look at these pictures for examples.

Pour 1/2 cup of water-



Allow to absorb-




When diaper is full water will pour out-



Step 3:
Do steps one and two with all four diapers write down on paper to keep track of how much water each diaper holds.

Here are my results!

Click here to see results and comparison of prices!

Additional Project information

Science Project: Diaper's

The History of the diapers!

Diaper timeline click below

Diaper Timeline

Do you know what is in a disposable diaper that absorbs?

If you cut open a diaper, you will notice a crystal like substance called sodium polyacrylate and usually called super absorbent polymer or SAP. These crystals have a similar feel as fine sand. This polymer was created by the scientists from the Dow Chemical Company.

When these crystals are exposed to water, the water drawn inside the sodium polyacrylate molecule through osmosis. The polymer will continue to absorb water until the water inside the molecule is equivalent to the water outside the molecule. This mixture of water and crystals turns into a gel like substance. In fact, a pound of crystals can absorb about 50 gallons of water.

Since urine contains water and salts, and these salts impede the performance of the original sodium polyacrylate. Scientists have modified the polymer to counteract the affects of the salts in urine.

The chaise of a diaper is usually made of plastic or a special designed cloth like paper that gives a diaper its shape and contains the wetness. The next layer wicks the wetness away from the skin. Some of these layers have special one way funnels that the wetness moves in one direction and not resurface back to the skin. Finally the wetness drawn into the absorbent inner core and locked in. This inner core is a combination of paper cellulose fluff and the sodium polyacrylate crystals.

So what brand of diaper absorbs the best? My question do huggies absorb the best and does the price of the diaper effect the quality or absorbency?

Well lets see! To do this experiment I went to Walmart and bought four different brands of diapers in a size five.

Luvs
Pampers
Huggies
Parents choice(Walmart brand)

Then I completed the experiment check out the next post to see the steps and results!

Dear Parents

Does your child gringe when you mention science. Well I have some fun experiments that might change their minds. Here are a few experiments you can do at home with your children that might bring the science spark. Remeber if you have any questions please feel free to email me or contact me anytime. I hope you enjoy and your child learns that science can be fun!
Mrs. Woodward

Experiment #3

Get a jet Going!

Supplies you will need: Some thread or string small enough to fit through a straw, straws, baloons, and tape of some sort.



Directions: First feed the thread through your straw. Then find an area where you can stretch the string across the room. Either you will have to tie the ends to something or get two people to hold the ends.



Second Step: Now get another person to blow up a balloon.Then have the person hold the balloon by the neck and do not the air out.



Third step: Tape the staw onto the balloon.



Third Step: now take the baloon connected to the straw and go to one end of the string.



Now the final step let the balloon go and watch it race down the string! Here are my children doing the experiment!

A Jet Engine!

A jet engines power the fastest cars in the world as well as high-speed aircraft. A jet engine sucks in air at the front and heats this air with burning fuel. It then sends the hot air blasting out from the back of the engine. this forces the aircraft or car forward at very high speeds.



How a Jet Engine Works
All jet engines, which are also called gas turbines, work on the same principle. The engine sucks air in at the front with a fan. A compressor raises the pressure of the air. The compressor is made up of fans with many blades and attached to a shaft. The blades compress the air. The compressed air is then sprayed with fuel and an electric spark lights the mixture. The burning gases expand and blast out through the nozzle, at the back of the engine. As the jets of gas shoot backward, the engine and the aircraft are thrust forward.

Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They have been expressed in several different ways over nearly three centuries,[1] and can be summarised as follows:

1.In the absence of a net force, a body either is at rest or moves in a straight line with constant speed.
2.A body experiencing a force F experiences an acceleration a related to F by F = ma, where m is the mass of the body. Alternatively, force is equal to the time derivative of momentum.
3.Whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force −F on the first body. F and −F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Lesson Plans and Standards

Get A Jet Going: Standards and Lesson Plan


Extended Resources:

Tabbatha Monroe's experiment: Get a Jet Going

Experiment #2

Check your reaction time!

Supplies you will need for this experiment!

Markers at least six different colors.
scissors, ruler, and white paper!



Step one: Draw around the ruler on the paper.




Second Step: Cut out the strip.




Step Three: Mark six equal lines two inches apart on the strip of paper.





Step Four: Color each differnt part six different colors.





Step five: Have the person holding the strip let go and the other person has to catch it as fast as they can. The color you grab tells you the reaction time. The closer you are to the top the slower the reaction you have the closer you are to the bottom the faster the reaction time. Here is an example.

This is my daughter and i doing the experiment reaction time!

Reaction Time

Reaction Time

Your reaction time can mean life or death. Think of it in the animal kingdom when a predator attacks its prey or is hunting its prey. The preys reaction time either allows the prey to escape or become dinner. When a person is faced with an emergency its their reaction time that either gets them out of harms way or puts them in danger. There are so many instances where your reaction time is important. The best way to improve your reaction time is to practice. Have plans set up prior to an emergency for example a fire or a tornado plan. Have emergency kits ready in your home, in your car, and practice with your family. Your family can even take a CPR and first aid class to be better prepared in case of an emergency. Reaction time is not only important but it can be the difference between life and death.

Some factors that affect reaction time are age, experience, fitness, illness, pre-occupation, distraction, mood, drugs/medication, alcohol, tobacco, poor vision, and poor hearing. Our reflexes are at their best when we are in our teens and twenties, though older people can maintain their reflexes more if they stay alert and exercise regularly.

Lesson Plan and Standards

Check Your Reaction Time: Lesson plan and standards

Extended Resources:

Allison Hayes experiment on Reaction Time!

Experiment #1

See A Sunset

For this experiment you will need. 2 clear glasses, 2 teaspoons of milk, flash light, water to fill up both glasses, and a spoon.




First step is to pour water into the glasses till they are both almost full. then take one of the glasses and shine the flashlight through it.


This is what it should look like this is your sunrise!



Second step is to take the other glass and add the two tespoons of milk.



Now take the flashlight and shine it through the glass it should look like this. this is your sunset see the yellow and orange glow!

See A Sunset

The particles of milk in the water cut out some of the colors in the light coming from the flashlight. So only orange and red rays get through. This occurs in nature as well. When the sun is high in the sky, it generally appears white because all wavelengths of visible light reach an observer's eyes with almost equal intensity. As the sun sinks toward the horizon, sunlight enters the atmosphere at a much lower angle and consequently must pass through much more atmosphere before being seen by an observer. Air molecules scatter away the shorter wavelengths of light (violet and blue) and the only light which penetrates through the atmosphere are the longer wavelengths of light (yellow, orange and red) which produce colorful sunsets. When there is a high concentration of particles in the atmosphere that are slightly larger than air molecules (like smoke, dust, and pollutants), shorter and intermediate wavelengths of light (violet, blue and yellow) are scattered away. Therefore, only the longer wavelengths (orange and red) reach the observer's eyes, giving the sun a orange-red appearance. This is what happens with the milk particles in the water.



Lesson Plan and Standards

See a Sunset: lesson plan and standards

Extended Resources:

Meagan Hickle's Experiment on See a sunset!