Question

Make a working model of Hope's appratus and perform the experiment.

Answer 1

Thomas Charles Hope (1766-1844) was the Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh University from 1795-1843. In 1805 he published a paper "Experiments and Observations upon the Contraction of Water by Heat at Low Temperatures". In it he showed that water has its maximum density at about 4°C, a fact well known to fish who congregate at the bottom of ponds in freezing weather.

   The apparatus at the left is at Kenyon College, and at the right is an example of Hope's apparatus at the University of Cincinnati.