If the size of the holes at the bottom of the bottle increase in diameter, than water will eventually flow out of the holes when the bottle cap is tightly on.  If the number of holes at the bottom of the bottle increases, then the water will flow sooner with a smaller diameter hole.

Controlled Variables

• atmospheric pressure (air pressure)
• temperature
• volume of water used
• type of bottle
• hole placement
• how the bottle is filled with water

Manipulated Variables

• hole diameter
• number of holes

Responding Variable

• flow of water

1. Fill a bottle with distilled water to the very top and measure the volume using a graduated cylinder.  Record the volume.
2. Place a piece of paper around the bottom of the bottle to measure the circumference of the bottle.  Mark where the paper end meets and then measure the paper with a ruler to find the measurement of the circumference.
3. Divide the circumference into 3 equal parts and mark the paper template into thirds.  This is where the hole markings will be.
4. Place the paper template around the bottom of each bottle and mark the location where the 3 holes will be on each bottle.
5. Using the sewing pin, make a hole into the bottle where the hole location marks are.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each bottle using a different size drill bit.  Thumb tack, 1/16”, 5/64”, 3/32”, ⅛”, 9/64”, 5/32”, 11/64”, 3/16”, 7/32”, ¼”.  At the end there should be 12 bottles with different sized holes equally spaced around the bottom of the bottle.
7. Fill the clean painter’s bucket with 16L of distilled water.
8. Submerge the pop bottle in the bucket of water in an upright position and fill the bottle with water to the top.
   1. 
9. Screw the cap on the bottle with no air in the bottle.
10. Dry the outside of the bottle and place it on the dry cake pan.
11. Observe if any water comes out of the holes of the water bottle with the bottle cap screwed on tight.
12. Partially unscrew the bottle cap for 5 seconds and observe if water flows out of the holes.
13. Using a ruler, measure the new height of the water that is left in the bottle.
14. Collect and measure the volume of water that flows out of the holes. 
15. Repeat steps 8 to14 once for the same hole diameter bottle.
16. Repeat steps 8 to 14 for each bottle with different sized holes.
17. Repeat steps 1 to 15 for a bottle with 4 equally spaced holes and 5 equally spaced holes.

Room Temperature:  20°C on both January 19 and 21, 2024

 

Atmospheric Pressure: 88.76KPa on January 19, 2024 @ 18:00 hrs, 87.8KPa on January 21, 2024  (source Government of Canada) 

 

Bottle Circumference:  23 cm

 

Bottle Volume:  760 mL

 

Part 1:  Day One.  Determining hole size

 

 

 

Bottle with pin-sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

 

Bottle with pin-sized holes and a bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with thumb tack-sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with thumb tak-sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 1/16” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 1/16” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 5/64” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 5/64” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 3/32” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 3/32” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with ⅛” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

 

Bottle with ⅛” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 9/64” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 9/64” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 5/32” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 5/32” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 11/64” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 11/64” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 3/16” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 3/16” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 7/32” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had no water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with 7/32” sized holes and bottle cap slightly unscrewed had water flow out from the holes.

Bottle with ¼” sized holes and bottle cap tightly screwed on had water flow out from the holes.

 

Part 2

 

 

 

 

Based on the graphs of the data, the water did not flow out of the bottle with the cap on until the size of the hole diameter was 5/16”.  The number of holes of the same size in the bottle did not make a difference for when the water would flow.  As the size of the hole increased, the volume of water lost from the bottle increased when the bottle was open.  When the experiment stopped working, there were bubbles of air entering the bottle through the holes going to the top of the bottle.The air pressure inside the bottle was lower than the pressure on the outside of it because there was no air inside the bottle to start with.  The surface tension broke between the hole size of ¼” and 5/16”.

 

It was determined that water will flow with the cap on with a hole diameter size between ¼” and 5/16”.  The number of holes in the bottle did not make a difference when the water would flow with the cap on at a smaller hole diameter size.

 

The surface tension of the water broke between the hole size of ¼” and 5/16” because the water molecules could no longer stick together

 

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2. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/atmospheric-pressure/ page 1
3. Lawrence, Ellen. Water.  New York.  Bearport Publishing Company Inc.  2013 page23
4. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "atmospheric pressure". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Dec. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science/atmospheric-pressure. Accessed 31 January 2024.
5. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/holes-that-do-not-leak/
6. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "surface tension". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Jan. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/science/surface-tension. Accessed 31 January 2024.
7. https://playingwithrain.com/water-bottle-with-holes/
8. Benson, H. (1991). University Physics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. page 284
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