HELP ASAP!!! DUE TOMORROW !!!!! I am testing the melting rate of ice for different beverages: tap water, soda water, coke, gatorade

Question

I have frozen the above beverages in an ice cube tray^^^ I need to see which melts the fastest. I have 2 ice cubes for each beverage. So in total, there are 8 ice cubes. In order for me to time which melts fastest, I am going to put 1 ice cube on an iron skillet and time how long it will take to melt. I will do the same procedure for the rest of the beverages, and then I will repeat it to make sure it is accurate. 

MY PROBLEM IS I ONLY HAVE 1 IRON SKILLET, MEANING THAT ALL MY ICE CUBES WILL BE TESTED ON THIS IRON SKILLET, BUT ONE AT A TIME. SO WHEN 1 ICE CUBE MELTS, I WILL WIPE THE IRON SKILLET AND THEN MELT ANOTHER FROZEN ICE CUBE ON THERE AND TIME HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO MELT. WILL THIS AFFECT THE MELTING RATE, AS IN, WILL THE ICE CUBE MAKE THE PAN COLDER, AFFECTING THE REST ICE CUBES WHICH WILL BE MELTED ON THE IRON SKILLET.

Answer 1

In order to accurately see which one melts fastest, you want all the ice cubes to be exactly the same size.  This is what we call the control group.  In addition to this, the environment you are experimenting in needs to be constant.  Any change in room temperature will affect the melting rate.  This is what we call the controlled group.  Without considering these, you are liable to get some errors in your results. 

 

 

If you only have 1 skillet that is okay because you want ALL the ice cubes to be affected by the same environment as I mentioned above.   I suggest that you give enough space for each cube in the skillet so the temperature from one cube does not transfer to the neighboring ones, interfering with the melting rate.

 

Since you are trying to keep track of more than one cube at the same time, you will want to record the melting in action using a video camera.  Recording the times and size decrease as time passes on paper will force you to take your eyes off the experiment and you may miss something crucial.  You will want to perform this experiment 3 times to see if you get the same results.

 

Of course, the ice cube that completely melts first is the ice cube that melts that fastest.  By the same concept, the cube that melts last is the cube that melts the slowest.

 

Because you are melting ice cubes, the best day to do this experiment is on a Friday, despite the fact that your experiment is due tomorrow.  And don't watch Kevin Hart movies.  They may distract you even more.