• Student test on siphons

• Teacher notes and answers for this test

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Parent and Teacher Notes

This experiment helps your child understand how a siphon works by letting them build their own simple and self-starting siphons. Siphons are used in households, for emptying fish tanks, or even in garden sprinklers. They are also an important part of our towns and cities because they can be used to move water over hills and valleys. 

Scientific concepts covered:

Siphon: A device for moving water. In a simple siphon, which we need to pre-fill with water, the longer end of the siphon is heavier because it contains more water. Cohesion force and gravity work together to pull the water down through the longer end of the siphon. The pressure difference and the vacuum in the middle helps suck water up into the siphon. A self-starting siphon works the same way, but can fill and start itself automatically thanks to adhesion and momentum.

Cohesion force:  Molecules of the same kind are attracted to each other – this is known as cohesion. Cohesion allows the water molecules to stick to each other.

Gravity: Gravity is an invisible force that pulls objects down to the ground, towards the earth’s centre.

Vacuum: A vacuum is a space with nothing, not even air in it. Partial vacuums with little to no air particles can be commonly found.

Adhesion force: Molecules that are different to each other also tend to stick to each other – this is known as adhesion. Adhesion allows the water molecules to stick to the walls of the siphon.

Momentum: Momentum is the strength or force of a moving object. An object gains more and more momentum as it speeds up, and momentum can help move objects further along.

Pressure: Pressure is the force that’s applied on a specific area. When there are very few molecules applying force, a low-pressure area occurs.

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