Ice, water and steam
Chemistry · Early Years · The School
Watching ice melt
Put an ice cube on a plate and watch. It goes from hard and cold to a puddle. Nothing was added and nothing taken away — the warmth of the room did it. Put a second cube somewhere cold and compare which melts first.
Water disappearing
Leave a saucer of water out for two days and some of it goes. It has not vanished; it has gone into the air, too small to see. That is why washing dries on a line. Warm, windy days dry washing fastest — ask why.
Still the same water
Ice, water and steam look completely different but they are all the same stuff, just warmer or colder. Freeze the puddle again and you have your ice cube back. Nothing new was made.
Put an ice cube in a saucer and draw round it. Come back in an hour: a puddle, the same water in a different form. Now put the saucer in the freezer and come back later: ice again, and about the same amount. Nothing was added or taken away at any point. If it had turned into something NEW, freezing it would not have brought the ice back.