SIP Appendix D

APPENDIX D

Science Investigative Project

Project Proposal Form

Name:

Lum Qian Wei (20)

Sec 2/10

Topic of investigation :

Effect of viscosity of liquids on the movement of a pendulum.

A	Observations made
	After watching Myth Busters’ experiment to determine if it would be faster to swim in water or syrup, I was not satisfied with the results. Their experiment did not answer the question as there were other factors affecting the accuracy of their results, like how the swimmer’s technique was affected by the different swimming conditions. Thus, I hope to be able to achieve more accurate results by eliminating human factors (i.e. the swimmer’s technique) in my project by using non-living objects to try out the experiment on. The pendulum is a suitable object as it should be able to produce relatively constant results.
B	Research Question
	How is the movement of a pendulum affected by different viscosity of liquids?
C	Hypothesis statement
	The higher the viscosity of the liquid, the slower the pendulum moves.
D	A short summary of research done on the area of investigation
	Viscosity measures the resistance of a liquid against movement. The lower the viscosity of the liquid, the less friction there is against the movement of an object, thus the greater the ease of movement. Zahn cups measure viscosities of liquids by measuring the efflux time and then calculating the viscosities using a formula. The zahn cup is a cup with a hole at the bottom. It is filled with the liquid that is being tested, and the time taken for all the liquid to flow out of the cup is measured (efflux time).
E	Bibliography (Please refer to RS Students’ Handbook in RS Folder on Inet regarding APA Style Format)
	Weber Scientific. Zahn Cup-Type Viscometer Operating Instructions. http://www.weberscientific.com/products/instructions/Zahn%20Cup-instruct.pdf Wikepedia. 2011. Viscosity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity Zahn Cup Viscometer. http://www.geneq.com/catalog/en/zahn_cup.html The Physics Hypertextbook. 1998-2010. Viscosity – the physics hypertextbook. Glenn Elert. http://physics.info/viscosity/ CSG, Computer Support Group, Inc. and CSGNetwork.Com. 1973-2011. Specific Gravity and Viscosity of Liquids. http://www.csgnetwork.com/sgvisc.html