Day 3 -- Water, Sweat, and Cabbage

In class on Thursday, we were met with the challenge of explaining the cause for coastal areas being cooler than inland areas. Daniel and I did the best we could with the few words we were allowed:

We were able to relate the heat capacity of water to that of air and land, showing the smaller heat increase in the ocean. Despite Mr. Quick's questioning, we successfully drew our way to an accurate explanation.

Even more, we were asked to explain the process of sweating in humans and dogs. As humans have pores to release heat, dogs use their tongues to release the same heat due to their lack of pores.

In humid weather, the water on the surface of skin cannot evaporate quickly due to the large amount of water already in the surrounding air. In windy weather, the air around is constantly moving around, so the sweat can evaporate rather quickly.

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In other news, how can we use red cabbage as a PH indicator?

• Red cabbage contains a "pigment molecule" called "flavin", which is an anthocyanin, that changes color based on the PH. 
• When presented with an acid, the flavin will turn the cabbage red.
• When presented with a neutral solution, the flavin will turn the cabbage purple. 
• When presented with a base, the flavin will turn the cabbage green or yellow. 

It changes in response to hydrogen ion concentration. (Acids donate hydrogen ions while Bases accept them.)

• If acid rain were to fall on the cabbage during development, the flavin within would react to the rain and change the cabbage a red color. This may be the reason for the name "red" cabbage. 
• Soils in acid rain have a resistance to acid, known as buffering capacity. The capacity of absorption of acid depends on location.