Experiments with KVRR Meteorologist Scott Sincoff: Ice Cube Rope

Fun, Easy, Kid-Friendly Science Experiments

This week, Meteorologist Scott Sincoff conducted the science experiment, Ice Cube Rope.

What you need for the experiment:

• Glass
• Chilled water
• Foot-long piece of string
• Kosher salt
• Ice Cubes

How you conduct the experiment:

• First you need a glass full to the brim with water.
• Then, you stick some ice cubes into the water so that it just nearly overflows out of the glass.
• Next, you put about a foot–long piece of string over the ice cubes in the water.
• Sprinkle some kosher salt onto the string laying on the ice cubes.
• Wait a few seconds.
• Lift up the string to see that the ice has attached to the string.

Further Science Questions:

Adding salt to water is contaminating the water with the kosher salt acting as a contaminant; this contaminant lowers the freezing point. The salt caused the ice to melt and then refreeze as contaminated water molecules.

You can change the kind of water as well as the kind and amount of salt when doing trials of the experiment to see how the results changes.