Man-made Sponge vs. Natural Sponge

Sponge Bob

Household (man-made) Sponge vs. Natural Sponge

Purpose

The purpose of this experiment is to find out which sponge will hold the most water?

Hypothesis

The natural sponge will hold the most water.

Procedure and Materials

Materials

Natural sponge

Household (man-made) sponge

2 Pyrex bowls

2 Foam bowls

Balance scale

Measure cup

Water

Experiment

1. Place each sponge into the small foam bowl and weight of both: the dry, natural and man-made sponges, write the weight information under “Dry Weight.”

2. Place man-made sponge and natural sponge in each of the Pyrex bowls.

3. Measure 2 cups of water; pour in each Pyrex bowl where the sponges are and wait for a few minutes until it is fully soaked.

4. Take the man-made sponge from the water, let the extra water drip off, put it in the small foam bowl and weight the sponge, write the weight information under “Saturated Weight”.

5. Take the natural sponge from the water, let the extra water drip off, put it in the small foam bowl and weight the sponge, write the weight information under “Saturated Weight”.

Results

Subtract the Dry Weight from the Saturated Weight.  Write the answer in the column labeled “Difference.”  Record the results for all the samples. Table No.1

Table No. 1

Conclusions

In all three examples the natural sponge holds the most water -116g - than man-made sponge – 76g - because the body of the sponge has thousands of pores, which let the water flow through it continually.

Bibliography

"Sponge," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2004. http://encarta.msn.com

Super Soaker Sponge. [Online] Available  http://www.nasaexplorers.com/show_k4_student_st.php?id=03090890019, December 28, 2004

Sponges.  [Online] Available http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/sponge/index.shtml, December 28, 2004

Sponge Bob. [Online] Available http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_supersites/spongebob/main.jhtml, January 2, 2005