Question

mitch did an experiment about evaporation for the school science fair. on saturday morning, he set a beaker of water outside. during the course of the day, the temperature rose, stayed constant at a high temperature, and then cooled back down. he discovered that the water evaporated more quickly when the outdoor temperature was hotter. which graph could show the amount of water in the beaker over the course of the day?

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze evaporation rate with temperature

When temperature rises, evaporation rate (water loss rate) increases. When temperature is constant at high, evaporation rate is high (constant or steady high). When temperature cools, evaporation rate decreases (water loss rate lowers). So the graph of water amount should show: decreasing at an increasing rate (as temp rises, faster evaporation), then decreasing at a constant (high) rate (temp constant), then decreasing at a decreasing rate (temp cools, slower evaporation). The first graph's curve: starts decreasing, the slope (rate) first becomes steeper (faster loss as temp rises), then less steep (slower loss as temp cools), matching the temp changes. The second graph has increasing water (which is wrong, water evaporates, so amount should only decrease) and a flat part (no evaporation, which contradicts as temp is high but water should still evaporate, just rate changes).

Step2: Eliminate incorrect graph

The second graph shows water increasing initially, which is impossible (water is evaporating, so amount should decrease over time). So the first graph is correct as it shows water decreasing, with the rate of decrease (slope) changing: steeper when temp rises (faster evaporation), less steep when temp cools (slower evaporation), and a middle part where slope is constant (temp constant, steady high evaporation rate).

Answer:

The first graph (the left - hand one with the curve showing the amount of water decreasing over time with the rate of decrease changing according to temperature changes).