Cool As Cucumber (Science Experiments)

Materials Required:
l Cucumber
l Vegetable parer
l 2 bowls
l Water
l 1 tablespoon salt

Procedure:

1. Using a vegetable parer and moving it away from your fingers, peel the skin from a fresh cucumber.
2. When the skin has been removed, continue to use the parer to slice the cucumber into strips. Divide the strips into 2 bowls, then add water to each until the strips are covered.
3. Add a tablespoon of salt to one bowl. Stir until the salt is dissolved.
4. Let the experiment sit for several hours. Then examine the cucumber strips in each bowl. The strips in the salt water will be wilted and limp, but the strips in the plain water will remain crisp. Can you explain this difference?
   

This Is What Happens:
Because cucumbers are plants, water can flow either into or out of them. When there are more minerals in the surrounding medium, such as in the bowl with salt water, these minerals cause the water to leave the cucumbers. This gives them a soft, wilted feel. In the bowl with plain water, the cucumbers have more minerals inside them than in the surrounding water, and more water tends to move into the cucumbers, making them stay crisp.