Science Lab Experiment: Hard to Soft Water
Demonstration: Hard to Soft Water
Object: To determine some characteristics of hard and soft water.
Materials: 3 test tubes, hard water (tap), soft water (distilled) and
washing soda (sodium carbonate), soap solution, dropper,
test tube rack
Diagram:
Materials: About 50 ml tap water was added to the first two test tubes.
To the third tube was added the same amount of distilled water.
To the second tube was added a pinch of washing soda. A dropper
was then used to add some solution to the tubes. The drops required
to make a lather were counted and recorded.
Observations: It was seen that the hard water in test tube #2 formed a lather
after only 3 drops of soap solution were added. The distilled water
in test tube #3 took only 1 drop to form suds.
Conclusions: It was concluded that soft water is pure and produces suds more easily.
Hard water is not pure. It contains many different minerals. However,
hard water can be softened by adding washing soda (sodium carbonate).
