What Melts in the Sun?

What Melts in the Sun?


Materials

• A Lego 
• Ice
• A wooden block
• A rock
• Butter
• A cube of cheese
• A marble
• A quarter
• A square of Hershey’s chocolate
• Three crayons
• A cube cut off a bar of soap

Place your tray in the sun and set a timer for 10 min.

I made a chart to record what happened.  Before we put the muffin tin out in the sun, they guess whether each object would melt or not.  Then they recorded what really happened.

The Science Behind It:

All solids have a melting point – not just water!  The melting point of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but other substances have different melting points.  The melting point of butter is 90 degrees F, so if it’s below 90 degrees it’s technically frozen – even though it is not cold to the touch.  Another example – the freezing point of Jello is 50 degrees Fahrenheit, so if it’s warmer than 50 degrees it will melt.  The quarter in our tray did not melt because we were nowhere near its melting point of 1,981 degrees F (a quarter is primarily copper).  “So, closer to August then?” says my husband.  No, we probably won’t get that hot, even in Texas!  But we might be able to cook eggs on the sidewalk – we’ll see!