Chemistry · Lesson Worlds
Solubility: interactive science lab
Warm the water or stir harder and prove that more solid can disappear into the liquid.
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What will you learn?
Hot solvent holds more solute. Stirring helps it disappear faster. Cold, still water leaves crystals behind.
How does the lab work?
Observe the simulation, make a prediction, change a variable, run the experiment, and explain the result. Finish with a challenge that tests your understanding.
You can change: Temperature, Stir. Compare what happens and connect the result to the scientific explanation.
Try a comparison in Solubility
Start with the lab’s initial settings. Choose one control below, predict the result, and change that control while keeping the others fixed. Record the setting and what you observe before making a second change.
- Temperature: the lab starts at 20 °C; its available range is 5–90 °C.
- Stir: the lab starts at 1; its available range is 0.2–2.
For a named starting condition, try Cold, Room, Hot. A preset can change several settings: check the controls before treating two presets as a one-variable comparison.
Questions to discuss during the activity
- Watch what happens. Some vanish. Some remain. Watch crystals sit in room-temperature water.
- Name the cause. Solubility is how much solid a liquid can hide. Hot water particles are farther apart and move faster, so more crystals fit. Stirring just speeds the hiding. Heat makes more room between water particles.
- Change something. Warm the beaker and more crystals should vanish. Change temperature, then stir.
- Guess before you run. If we warm the water to 80 °C, the crystals will… Guess what will happen, then run to check.
After your comparison, explain how the observations connect to this idea: Hot solvent holds more solute. Stirring helps it disappear faster. Cold, still water leaves crystals behind. Name one condition you held fixed and one feature of the real world this model simplifies. A completed run is a starting point for discussion, rather than proof of mastery.
Who is it for?
Curious learners exploring chemistry. A parent or teacher can help younger learners read the instructions and discuss the results. Choose by topic and prior knowledge rather than a fixed grade level.
Is this lab free?
Yes. This interactive lab is free without signing in or a paid membership.
No app download is needed; interactive play requires JavaScript and a modern browser.
Use this activity with a learner
Families and educators · choose by prior knowledge
Learning goal: Hot solvent holds more solute. Stirring helps it disappear faster. Cold, still water leaves crystals behind.
Before you begin: Read the controls for Temperature, Stir. Make one prediction before changing a setting.
Check understanding: Ask for one observation, the evidence that supports it, and a question to investigate next.
A simulation simplifies the real world. Explain which conditions stayed fixed; a successful run alone does not demonstrate mastery.
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