Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm doing a science buddies project on desalination. It involves using the water cycle to produce fresh water from salt water. The project tells me to put the "desalinator" in a sunny place. But where I live, the current temperatures are averaging around -10 and it's frequently cloudy. Can I still do my project? Will the water cycle work the same in the cold climate? Can I create an artificial "sun" to recreate the water cycle?

Hi--Brr! Was that -10 Celsius or Fahrenheit? Either way, pretty chilly.

You can do the desalinization demonstration inside your home if you have a south window that gets sun at least a couple of days out of the week. Check your weather forecast for sunny days.

If you have clouds all the time, then you can still do the project but you will need to buy a heat lamp--the kind sold by Petsmart and other stores for basking reptiles. This should provide enough heat to evaporate the salt water which will then condense as fresh water.

If you need more help, please post again.

sybee