Introduction: Our Earths oceans are vast.

They play a major role in influencing our Earths climate and

weather. The oceans absorb a lot of the solar energy coming from the sun thanks to waters high heat
capacity. This regulates the temperature of the aquatic world making the temperature aquatic animals
experience stable at around one temperature. This same concept can also be brought to a global scale. The
oceans heat capacity also regulates the temperature of Earths land and directly affects the billions of people
that live upon it. While it affects coastal land more than inland, it still plays a major role in the ecosystem
around the world. We can safety assume that Earths living essence all connect one way or the other to the
oceans and lakes wellbeing. In light of the impending melting of the icecaps caused by global warming, a
large influx of fresh water will pour forth into our oceans and will alter its salinity. If the oceans change in
salinity affects the rate at which the water heats up, many environmental changes can occur. So, for this
experiment, it is set to investigate the effect of seawaters salinity to the rate of temperature increase. Four
different trials will be performed with different levels of salinity in each. Temperatures will be recorded at a
certain time interval. The experiment may end anytime after the water is boiling. Due to waters properties
such as its temperature plateau when it changes state, we can use this fact to our advantage by using the
first temperature reading in the beginning of the plateau to represent the waters boiling point. By doing
this, the rate in which temperature increases can be found.
If the experiment shows that changes in salinity can cause a shift in oceans rate of temperature increase,
further studies could be established to determine the effects on a grand scale if such an event should occur.

Question: Does changing waters salinity (simulating it using distilled water with 0%, 1%, 2%, and 3.5% of
salt) have an effect on the rate at which temperature increases?

Hypothesis:
If salinity were to be tested for its influencing factor in raising waters boiling point, then the rate at which
temperature increases at should experience a noticeable increase as more salt is added (more salt causes less
time to heat). This is because salt water has a slightly lower heat capacity compared to pure water and will
cause saltier water to boil faster.

I ndependent Variable:
Time at which the temperature readings are taken
Heat of the hot plate at 500
o
C
Salinity of each test
Dependent Variables:
The rate of temperature increase
When waters state change plateau occurs
Temperature readings
Control:
Each trial will be repeated once more for more accuracy
Not disturbing the water while heating to avoid temperature increase disruption
Pre-heated hot plate to 500
o
C to start experiment at constant temperature
Used same salt for all trials
A control of normal ocean salinity of 3.5% for better comparison and specific percentage of
salts in the other to simulate oceans dilution
Used the same distilled water for all experiments
Materials:
500mL beaker
250mL of distilled water
2.5g, 5g, 8.75g of salt
o (1%, 2%, 3.5% content respectively)
Timer
Hot plate
Thermometer
Stirring rod
Scale
Pencil and paper


Procedure:
1. Put on goggles and collect all equipment and materials listed in Materials.
2. Pour 250mL of distilled water into the 500mL beaker and measure the starting temperature using a
thermometer.
3. Preheat your hot plate to 500
o
C.
4. After preheating, Place a thermometer in the beaker and place beaker onto the hot plate and start the
timer. (See Fig. 1)
5. Every 30s (0.5 min), take a record of the temperature and record it. Try not to interfere with the water
as it may have an effect on the experiment by increasing heating rate.
6. After it begins to boil, take a few more temperature readings (temperature should be constant due to
its plateau when it changes state)
7. End the experiment and dispose of the water down the sink
8. Repeat Step 2 but this time, obtain salt and either measure 2.5g (1%), 5g (2%), or 8.75g (3.5%) of salt
using a scale. (put beaker on scale, press Tare, then measure out the salt)
9. Add salt into the beaker with distilled water. Use a stirring rod to mix the water & salt mixture until
the salt is completely dissolved in the water
10. Repeat Steps 3 to 7
11. After finishing, Repeat Steps 2 to 7 again but using a different amount of salt stated in Step 8 each
time while recording observations.












Data Collection and Processing:

Table 1: Results of Experiment (Temperature over time)
Time
(min)
Control
A
(0.5
o
C)
Control
B
(0.5
o
C)
Trial
1A
(0.5
o
C)
Trial
1B
(0.5
o
C)
Trial
2A
(0.5
o
C)
Trial
2B
(0.5
o
C)
Trial
3A
(0.5
o
C)
Trial
3B
(0.5
o
C)
0 18.5 20 17.2 20 17 19 20 20
0.5 29.5 25.6 23.4 24 25 25.5 27 29.5
1 50 31.8 28 26.2 30 30 30 30
1.5 61.7 35.3 31.9 30.6 34 34.3 35 35.4
2 68 39.9 37.3 35.1 38 40 40 36.7
2.5 68.5 44.4 40.5 39 44 44.5 44.5 39.8
3 68.5 49.5 46.2 44.1 48 49 50.5 42.1
3.5 69.2 55.6 52.1 48.6 53.5 54 53 45.2
4 69.8 60.2 54.8 51.8 56.5 57.5 56.5 51.1
4.5 70.1 63.9 58.9 54.8 60 62 59.5 54.1
5 62.5 67 62.3 60.1 64 66 64.5 58.7
5.5 66 72.3 67.7 64 67.5 68 71.5 61.5
6 70 76.2 71 66.7 72 72 74 65.9
6.5 77.5 79.8 73.4 71.1 74.5 76 77 69.1
7 77.5 82.1 78.2 74.8 78 80.7 80 72
7.5 80.5 85.3 81 78.7 81 84 83.5 75.8
8 83 88.2 84.7 81.2 83 88 87 78.9
8.5 86 91.1 87.2 84.1 86 92 90.5 81.5
9 89.3 93.1 90.4 87.8 89 95.5 93 84
9.5 92 95.6 92 90.2 91 99 94.5 86.5
10 93.6 95.7 93.9 92.7 --- 101 94.5 90.2
10.5 95 95.7 94.3 95.5 --- 102 --- 93.1
11 95.5 95.7 --- 98 --- 102 --- 94.1
11.5 96 95.8 --- --- --- 102.1 --- 94.6
12 96 95.9 --- --- --- 103 --- 95
12.5 96 96.1 --- --- --- --- --- 95
13 96 96.1 --- --- --- --- --- 95
13.5 96 96.3 --- --- --- --- --- 95.1
14 96 96.3 --- --- --- --- --- 95.9
14.5 96 96.3 --- --- --- --- --- 96
15 96 96.3 --- --- --- --- --- 96.2
15.5 95.8 --- --- --- --- --- --- 96.8
16 96 --- --- --- --- --- --- 96
16.5 96 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
17 95.5 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
17.5 95.5 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
18 95.5 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
*Note- Trials were finished at different intervals in waters state change plateau. Therefore, the bolded
numbers in the page before are removed in analysis for accurate representation of temperature change from
room temperature to boiling temperature.


Figure 1: Temperature of 3.5% distilled salt water over time measured at 0.5 min intervals until constant
temperature is achieved. *Note- the uncertainty of 0.5


Figure 2: Temperature of 2% distilled salt water over time measured at 0.5 min intervals until constant
temperature is achieved
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
e
l
s
i
u
s
)

Time (mins)
Temperature of 3.5% Salt Water over Time
Control A
Control B
Linear
(Control A)
Linear
(Control B)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
e
l
s
i
u
s
)

Time (mins)
Temperature of 2% Salt Water over Time
Trial 1A
Trial 1B
Linear
(Trial 1A)
Linear
(Trial 1B)

Figure 3: Temperature of 1% distilled salt water over time measured at 0.5 min intervals until constant
temperature is achieved.





Figure 4: Temperature of 0% distilled salt water over time measured at 0.5 min intervals until constant
temperature is achieved.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
e
l
s
i
u
s
)

Time (mins)
Temperature of 1% Salt Water over Time
Trial 2A
Trial 2B
Linear
(Trial 2A)
Linear
(Trial 2B)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
e
l
s
i
u
s
)

Time (mins)
Temperature of 0% Salt Water over Time
Trial 3A
Trial 3B
Linear
(Trial 3A)
Linear
(Trial 3B)
The graphs display the results in a more visual manner. Most of the graphs such as Figure 2, Figure 3, and
Figure 4 are closely equal thus confirming the results as being valid. Figure 1 shows a disturbance between
the repeated trials that could have been caused by human error as discussed under Discussion. The line of
best fit was added to each controls and trials showing the general trend of the graphs. The slope of the line of
best fit represent the rate at which temperature is increasing (Temperature over time).

ANOVA (one factor) Statistical Test

The purpose of the ANOVA Test is the compare the means of more than two treatments to detect if they are
significantly different to one another

H
0
= There is no significant difference in mean rate of temperature increase in the four salinity groups (3.5%,
2%, 1%, 0%)
H
A
= There is a significant difference in mean rate of temperature increase in the four salinity groups (3.5%,
2%, 1%, 0%)

Rate sample calculation (control treatment):
Control A: (95.5 -18.5)/2 = 7
Control B: (93.1-20)/2 = 8.122
Average Rate
(celsius/min)
7 8.122 7.343 7.091 6.947 8.2 7.45 6.736

Sample standard deviation calculation (for control treatment):

Group Mean (X
i
) Standard deviation (s) Number of values (n)
Control (3.5% salinity) 7.561111111 0.793530943 2
Trial 1 (2% salinity) 7.216883117 0.178154176 2
Trial 2 (1% salinity) 7.573684211 0.885744284 2
Trial 3 (0% salinity) 7.093181818 0.504617112 2

Sample MS
error
calculation:

Sample MS
group
calculation:

Source of
variation
Sum of squares
(SS)
Degrees of
freedom (df)
Mean squares
(MS)
F-ratio (F) Probability (P)
Group (salinity
treatments)
0.355550199 3 0.118516733

0.278762607

F < F
0.05(1) 3,4
(F<6.59)
P > 0.05
Error 1.700611635 4 0.425152909

F-distribution value is obtained from the F-distribution statistical table. As a result, our calculated F-ratio
value is less than 6.59; therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. The mean rate values of all salinity
groups are not significantly different from one another to show that the samples of different salinity proves
that salinity can effect rate of temperature increase.


















Discussion:
According to researcher, Stanley Zhou and his partner Geoffrey Lokke, Seawater of 35 psu has a
specific heat of 0.932 compared with 1.000 for pure water. Why does salt water reaching its boiling point
faster? Salt added into water also has an effect of lowering the freezing point and increasing the boiling point.
The research presented in this experiment does not reflect the statement above. The ANOVA test was utilized
to look for any significant difference between the 4 experimental groups. It was previously planned to use
ANOVA test to display evidence of differences for multiple groups and then utilize specific separate student
t-tests to isolate the 6 possible differences between them. The investigation was shorter than planned due to
the failure to reject the null hypothesis in the ANOVA Test. This means that the difference in the mean
values of all salinity groups is not significant enough to require further investigation. Many errors could have
led to this conclusion from the basic human error to the weakness of this specific study.
The first major error was in the test itself. The changes in temperature and the effect of salt in water
are significantly small. To prove and show a difference, large quantities of water and salt should be present.
The samples also must have a large difference such as 50 percent salt and 10 percent salt and a control of 0
percent salt comparison for any possible significant differences to be shown. The quality of the data collected
also shows faults. In Figure 1, it is shown that around the 5-minute interval, the temperature decreased and
then increased. By rationalization, heating a beaker of water and salt at a constant 500
O
C should not have
warranted any decrease in temperature while the water temperature was around 50 degrees Celsius.
There are also many unavoidable errors that were presented due to the limited time and equipment
that was supplied. The thermometers as seen in Table 1, all displayed a different starting temperature despite
using the same temperature water in the same room. The hot plate also showed inaccuracy in maintaining a
constant 500
o
C temperature. Improvements could be done by using one thermometer for all the trials to limit
the information and results from one source. This can show accurate differences better than multiple possible
different thermometers. More time would also be another factor in improving the experiment by allowing
more trials and repeats to be done. Any outlying data could be eliminated in contrast to this study where only
one additional repeat was presented, forcing the use of both data for more reliable analysis.
Human errors are unavoidable but it can be reduced to an almost insignificant factor. Some data was
caused by the moment when measuring the temperature of the water, the thermometer comes in contact with
the bottom of the beaker, a significant increase in temperature will be present. A more accurate reading
would be suspending it in the middle of the water, measuring the average temperature of all the water, not
just the heat coming from the hot plate.
The experiment can benefit from evaluating the procedure, the method, data collection, time, and
knowing the importance of these errors as stated above.

References
Byene, Robert. "Thermal Properties." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web.
17 Jan. 2014.
Jones, James. "Stats: One-Way ANOVA." Stats: One-Way ANOVA. N.p., 21 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Kabakoff, Robert. "Quick-R." : ANOVA Assumptions. WebTempleteOcean, n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Matthews, Richard. "Scientists Are Concerned about Mysterious Rise in Ocean Salinity." Global Warming Is
Real RSS. Global Health, 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Rumsey, Deborah. "Statistics." For Dummies. For Dummies, n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.
Stark, Anne. "Atmospheric Warming Altering Ocean Salinity and the Water Cycle." Atmospheric Warming
Altering Ocean Salinity and the Water Cycle. Lawrence Laboratory, 4 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.






















Ray Chang
IB Bio Year 1
1-1
1/12/2013








Lab Report: Salinitys effects on Rate of
Temperature Increase