Name: Tess Lawson Partner(s): Marina and Alice Date: Sunday 23 Sep

2014


Introduction:

In a way, the earth is like a glasshouse. It has some very important gasses in the
atmosphere that keeps us warm. Some of these gases are water vapor, carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. When the sun heats the earth, these gases
keep the heat on the earth's surface. Without these gases, heat would escape
back into space and Earths average temperature would be about 60F colder.
Many places on earth are experiencing big changes in temperature. Some areas
that were warmer are now getting colder and others report rising temperatures.
These changes have been described as Global Warming. (1)

It is hard to measure the effect of increases in temperature on a scale like earth.
Instead we can measure the impact that heat has on substances like liquids in a
controlled experiment.




D.1 Aim of Experiment: What is the purpose of the investigation?

The purpose of this investigation was to observe changes in three different
liquids, soap, vitamin water and nail polish remover by applying heat. Each
liquid had a different consistency. We wanted to see which substance has the
highest temperature after 10 minutes of heating.

D.2 Hypotheses: Say what you think is going to happen in this experiment
and give a scientific explanation why you think so.





Before this experiment I thought that the thinner the liquid was, the higher the
temperature would be. Based on my research I thought that the alcohol in the
nail polish remover would make the quantity of liquid evaporate. I thought this
would mean that the nail polish remover would be the hottest at the end of the
experiment and that it would stay hotter for longer.

D.3 Variables: Which factors are you going to try to keep constant, which
one are you going to change and which one are you going to find?

Control: These should be the
things you kept the same

-Same time allocated to heat each
liquid

- Equivalent quantity of liquid
(50ml)

-Equivalent distance between
lamp and liquid

-Same wattage for each lamp


Independent: Input- you change
this

-The substance
Dependent: This is what you
want to find

-We want to find out which liquid
has the highest temperature after
an equal heating period of 10
minutes

D.4 Method: List the steps 1, 2, 3,..A labeled diagram helps a lot

1. Gather all you materials (D.5) that are needed to start this experiment
including the chart for recording the results.

2. After this is complete, get your three beakers and pour exactly 50ml of
soap into one beaker, 50ml vitamin water into another beaker, and 50ml
nail polish remover in the third beaker. Use a 250ml beaker.

3. Put an analogue thermometer into each substance of liquid.

4. Record the starting temperature of each liquid in each beaker.

5. Then put one lamp (75 watts) over each beaker and make sure the lamp
is the same distance between the liquid and the beaker

6. Record the temperature of each liquid every 5-minute interval.

7. After 10 minutes record the last set of data.

8. Then repeat steps 2-8 again so you have two sets of results to ensure
results are reliable.







D.5 Materials: Choose the materials you need so that you can control,
change or measure the variables you chose.

-Three bakers that are (250ml) -Nail polish remover (50ml)

-Three lamps (75 watts) -Vitamin water (50ml)

-Three analogue thermometers -Soap (50ml)


Safety:

Make sure wear safety goggles Dont drink any liquids
Wash your hands before and after
the experiment
Ensure that the lamp does not touch
any liquids



E.1 Data Collection: Raw data should be recorded here in the from of a table


Test 1: Vitamin water Soap Nail polish remover
Staring temperature 16 25 25
Five minutes 21 27 27
Ten minutes 27 31 34



Test 2: Vitamin water Soap Nail polish remover
Staring temperature 22 20 25
Five minutes 20 21 27
Ten minutes 25 23 30



Average: Vitamin water Soap Nail polish remover
Staring temperature 12 22.5 25
Five minutes 20.5 24 27
Ten minutes 26 27 32























E.3 Reflection of data:

My data consists of three samples, three mesurment periods and two tests. I
dont have a confident feeling that my data is correct. I can see here that my
information that I have is wrong because the vitamin water starts at 22 degress
for the secound test and five minutes later the tempreture drops down to 20
degrees. This is impossible because the lamp did not move from its position.
Thus the results needs to be treated with caution.

E.4 Conclusions: State your conclusion clearly. Does the data tell you if your
hypothesis is right or wrong? Which data? Explain your data.


My data shows me that my hypothesis is correct. As stated earlier I believed that
the nail polish remover would heat up the fastest due to its high alcohol content.
My first test shows that the vitamin water temperature is 16 degrees at the start
and the other two liquids begin at 25 degrees. The soap and nail polish remover
were both very similar to each other at 27 degrees at 5 minutes. But towards the
end of 10 minutes the vitamin water was 27 degrees and the soap was exactly 31
degrees. Therefore the test was quite close. The test was unfair because before
we stared the test 1 the vitamin water was in the fridge. This is a good
experience for me to watch out and be more careful with my experiment before I
start.


E.5 Evaluation: How reliable were your methods? Repeating measurements
helps to improve reliability and ensure that someone else would get the
same results as you.
Are your results valid? A fair test enables you to draw a valid conclusion.
What could you have done to improve it?
What else could you investigate?


I felt my methods were not very reliable. I believe that test 1 was not
particularly fair because the substance of vitamin water did not have the same
starting temperature as the other two liquids. The vitamin water was in the
refrigerator before test 1 but in test 2 all three liquids were at room
temperature. Next time I would make sure the samples were all at the same
starting point for both tests.

Also I would measure the distance of the beaker to the lamp to ensure they were
the same distance so the test is fair.






In my experiment I recognized that the temperature of the vitamin water
dropped down two degrees then raised back up again. I am unsure why this
happened but this shows that it is very important to do multiply tests to confirm
data is accurate. As spoken in my hypothesis I thought that the soap would have
the least heat at the end and I was correct.

The second experiment testing seemed more fair and reliable to me because they
all started off at room temperature. The nail polish remover had the highest heat
of 34 degrees in the fist test and 30 in the second.

If I had more time for this experiment I would have increased the measurement
period. I also would have done more then two tests because this gives me a more
accurate result at the end.

Next time I would like to try to investigate the viscosity (thickness) of the liquids
at different temperatures and possibly measure any change in volume (did
anything evaporate?).




Bibliography:

(1) "Effects." Global Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.