Effect of Insulator Type on the Retention of Heat

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of insulator type on the retention of heat.

I became interested in this idea when I watched a movie about an architect. I wanted to learn more about houses and buildings ever since.  This project idea seemed like a good one because I would get to build a model.

The information gained from this experiment could help people choose a more effective insulator.  This could save them money on heating bills and help them stay warmer in winter.  It could also help society by reducing energy use for heating.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that fiberglass batts would insulate the best.

I based my hypothesis on a similar science project done in 2003 by Colin Anyan.  In his conclusion, he said, “Fiberglass batts are the best insulation.”

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

• The starting temperature of the water
• The amount of water
• The type of water (tap)
• The thermometer
• The beaker to hold the water
• The box used as a model room.
• Room temperature the box was placed in while the water was cooling.

The manipulated variable was the type of insulation.

The responding variable was the change in temperature of the water.

To measure the responding variable I used a computerized lab thermometer calibrated in degrees Celsius. 

MATERIAS

QUANTITY	ITEM DESCRIPTION
1	Beaker
6	10”by10” 5/8 inch thick Fiberglass Insulation
6	10”by10” 5/8 inch thick Styrofoam Insulation
6	10”by10” 3.5 inch thick Fiberglass Insulation
1	Laptop
400ml	Tap Water
6	1 by 1ft Plywood boards
1 bottle	Wood glue
1	Table Saw
5	6”by6” 1/4 inch wire mesh
24”	Weather striping
1	Nip (strong scissors)

PROCEDURES

1. Build a model room

 a.   Saw six 12”by12” plywood boards

 b.   Glue five of the boards together in box shape without top

c.   Put weather striping on top of box

2. Build wire mesh box

     a.   Cut mesh in 5 6” by 6” sheets with metal nips

                b.   Arrange sheets in box shape without top

               c.   Bend wire around ends of sheets to hold them together as a box

                d.   Cut four 4 inch long metal strips as legs.

               e.   Glue legs to corners of wire box 

3. Cut Styrofoam insulation into six 10” by 10” boards

4. Cut Fiberglass insulation into six 10” by 10” sheets and 5/8 inch thick

5. Put styrofoam insulation into the inside of model room with one piece as top

6. Fill the beaker with 400ml of 50 degrees Celsius tap water 

7. Put the beaker into the model room

8. Put the probe in the beaker

9. Put the sixth board on top of the box as lid

10. Set laptop running “Logger Pro 3.0” to Record the temperature of the water every 5 minutes for 2 hours 

11. Remove Styrofoam insulation and replace with 5/8inch Fiberglass insulation 

12. Repeat steps 6-10

13. Remove 5/8inch Fiberglass insulation

14. Put in 3.5 inch thick Fiberglass insulation

15. Repeat steps 6-10

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of insulator type on the retention of heat.

The results of the experiment were the 3.5 inch thick Fiberglass insulated the best and the 5/8 inch thick Fiberglass insulated the second best.  The 5/8 inch thick Styrofoam insulated the third best. 

 
CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that fiberglass batts would insulate the best

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted  

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if starting with ice-cold water and allowing it to heat up inside the test box would have different results for the insulators.

If I were to conduct this project again I would use more insulators and I would make sure to have the temperature of the water start out boiling.  Also I would run each test twice as long.  Most importantly I would have made sure the thickness of all the insulation were exactly the same.

Researched by --- Adam J

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Effect of Bleach on the Survival Rate of Daphnia

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to see the survival rate of daphnia exposed to bleach.

I became interested in this idea because, I know how dangerous bleach is to our environment as well as us, if someone eats a polluted fish. We are in danger of poisoning the world, including ourselves. Water pollution is something I’ve been interested in for these reasons and many more.

The information gained from this experiment could help humans to see that we are in big danger if we don’t stop polluting the water, and hopefully would explain to them some of the items or “necessities” that we use in everyday life are extremely dangerous to our world.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that the bleach would kill the daphnia within twenty minutes, at almost any concentration.

I based my hypothesis on the fact that bleach is considerably dangerous to humans. Daphnia, more than likely, are affected in a far worse way.

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

• The constants in this study were:
• The temperature of water
• The light each daphnia was put under
• The species of daphnia
• The experimental procedures
• The amount of daphnia in one dish

The manipulated variable was the concentration of bleach.

The responding variable was the survival rate of daphnia.

To measure the responding variable I observed the daphnia for gill movement. If the gills weren’t moving, I counted them as no longer living.

MATERIALS

QUANTITY	ITEM DESCRIPTION
16	Petrie Dishes
60	Daphnia
8 ML	Bleach
1192 ML	Water
1	Eye Dropper
7	200 ML Beakers
1	100 ML Graduated Cylinder
1	1 Liter Beaker

PROCEDURES

1. Get together the sixteen petri dishes divided in to four quadrants,

a one thousand ML beaker, a one hundred ML graduated cylinder, seven two hundred ML beakers.

2. Make sure all these items are clean. If they aren’t clean follow the sub steps bellow.

A. Get a wet paper towel and clean off the bottom of the item.

B. If it still looks dirty after you clean off the bottom of the dish then just, rinse the item(s) several times under warm water.

C. After rinsing six to seven times, use a paper towel as a little scrubber. (You shouldn’t need soap)

D. Then dry the items with a dry paper towel.

3. Get out daphnia and put five in each quadrant using the eyedropper. (Put a drop of water in with each daphnia or they’ll die before the experiment is over!) 

4. Fill the one Liter beaker with water, be sure that the water temperature at 20 degrees.

5. Pour 92 ML of water into a 200 ML beaker.

6. Add eight ML of bleach into the same beaker creating 8% of bleach. Label it ‘8%’.

7. Then, pour fifty ML of the mixture into the graduated cylinder.

8.  Add fifty ML out of the one thousand ML beaker into the cylinder.

9. Pour the contents of the graduated cylinder into another beaker then back into the graduated cylinder and then back into the beaker again. (To mix it) Label this beaker 4%

10. Repeat steps 7-10 four times, but put the following labels on in the exact order: 2, 1, .5, .125.

11. Place the Petri dishes with the daphnia on the table in two rows of two.

12. With the first two daphnia dishes to the left, just put in three ML of water in each quadrant totaling at 24 ML of water.

13. Repeat step thirteen except use all of the mixtures in the beakers that you earlier made.

14.Check each Petri dish every ten minutes for 90 minutes.

15. Record the number of daphnia that are still alive in each dish.

                                                   RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to test the survival rate of daphnia against bleach.

The results of the experiment were that bleach killed daphnia quickly at low concentrations and at an even faster pace at high concentrations.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that the bleach would kill all of the daphnia, even at the lowest concentration, within 20 minutes.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if daphnia are as vulnerable to bleach if they’re in the wild.

If I were to conduct this project again, I would be more organized about my whole experiment, and check on the daphnia more often.

Researched by ---  Lauren G

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Effect of Antifreeze Type and Concentration on Soybean Growth

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of various types and concentrations of antifreeze on the growth of soybeans.

I became interested in this idea because my mom and I raise a garden. I was wondering why some plants die for no apparent reason. Then I wondered if pollutants, like gas or antifreeze in cars, have anything to do with it. 

The information gained from this experiment would help gardeners, farmers, and others involved in agriculture understand how antifreeze affects some plants.  It might show those in the automotive industry that antifreeze is a possible danger to our society and that it might need to be disposed of in special ways.

HYPOTHESIS

My first hypothesis was that ethylene glycol would cause the soybeans to grow more poorly than the soybeans treated with propylene glycol.

I based my hypothesis on a previous study done in 2003 by Joel Freeborn, “The Effect with Propylene Glycol on the growth of radishes.” He said that “propylene glycol’s poisonous and an ounce of that would be able to kill young children,” In his conclusion it said that it was his hypothesis was correct.

My second hypothesis was that as the concentration of antifreeze increases the growth of soybeans would decrease.

  

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were: 

The type of soybean seeds 

The amount of antifreeze I put on each soybean

The growing temperature

The soil type, amount

Amount of light

Planting depth

The types of antifreeze used within each group

The manipulated variables were the types of antifreeze and the concentration applied.

The responding variable was the mass of the soybeans. 

 To measure the responding variable I uprooted the plants, removed the dirt and used a triple beam balance to determine the mass.

MATERIALS

QUANTITY	ITEM DESCRIPTION
2	Disposable planting trays
100	Soybean seeds
1 gal.	Propylene glycol
1 gal.	Ethylene glycol
1	Planting lamp
1	Timer
1	bag Planting soil
1	Eye droppers
4	1000 ml. pitchers
1	Scout Pro (scale)

PROCEDURES

1. Put dirt in disposable planting trays bounce the soil and pack it in

2. Cut tray into 3 equal trays of 8 cells.

3. Plant 24 soybeans in each tray

4. Water them every three days

5. Label the trays

6. Place them in a nice place to grow

7. Grow until about two centimeters tall

8. Mix 1.0ml propylene glycol with 99ml H2O

9. Dose the soybean sprouts with 5 grams each of 1.0ml propylene glycol

10. Write down what you observed

11. Mix 1.0ml ethylene glycol with 99ml H2O

12. Dose the soybean sprouts with 5 grams each 1.0ml ethylene glycol

13. Take observations of what you did

14. Wait about three or four days until you dose the soybean sprouts again with propylene Glycol and ethylene glycol again 

15. Mix 0.5ml Of propylene glycol mixed with 99.5ml H2O 

16. Take the new mixture and pour it on the plants

17. Repeat step 8 on the controlled groups but with normal water 

18. Do the same thing as you did on step eight except use ethylene glycol

19. Pluck one of the propylene glycol soybean plants

20. Put them on the scout pro (scale)

21. Write the weight for the propylene glycol plant

22. And pluck another one and repeat steps 20-21 for all the plants

23. Pluck the ethylene glycol soybean plants

24. Put them on the scout pro (scale)

25. Study their weight and write what you observed

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of various types and concentrations of antifreeze on the growth of soybeans.

The results of the experiment were that the ethylene glycol group weighed less than the propylene glycol plants did. Both weighed less than the control group.  

 

                                                            CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that ethylene glycol would cause the soybeans to grow more poorly than the soybeans that were tinted with the propylene glycol.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted because the ethylene glycol group weighed a lot less than the propylene glycol did when I measured them.   

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if it would change the findings if I used more or less propylene glycol and ethylene glycol on the soybeans, and also if I grew the soybeans longer?

If I were to conduct this project again I would definitely use more plants for my project, I also would conduct my experiment during the summer so there would be better light for the plants. Another thing that I would change if I conducted this project again is I would make more concentrations of antifreeze to water the soybeans with. I would also put them in a place where my cat can’t get to them so I didn’t have to start over.

Researched by ---- Natalie F

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Effect of Cooking Methods on Vitamin C in Potatoes

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different cooking methods on the vitamin C content of potatoes.

I became interested in this idea when I discovered that vitamin C is very important to human health, and also that exposure to various things decreases or hurts the vitamin C content.  Light, oxygen, metal (especially iron), heat, and some chemicals all reduce the vitamin C content.  

The information gained from this experiment should benefit health conscious people who are seeking to be healthier, by letting them know which cooking method minimizes the vitamin C loss in potatoes or other vegetables.  Also it would basically help all of society maintain better health.    

HYPOTHESIS

My first hypothesis was that the longer time potatoes are steamed, the lower the vitamin C content would be.

My second hypothesis was that boiling potatoes in water would be more damaging to vitamin C than steaming would be.

I base my second hypothesis on the definition of vitamin C in Merriam-Webster’s Medical Desk Dictionary, “Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin.”
So therefore, if a potato is sitting in the water for a long period of time, it will lose some of the vitamin C content in it.

                                         EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

•   The type and size of the chunks of the potato

•   The temperature potatoes are cooked at (212 degrees F.)

•   The time potatoes are cooked (15, 30, and 45 minutes)

•   Amount of metal each potato is exposed to

•   Amount of water potatoes are cooked in during boiling test

•   Method for measuring vitamin C

The manipulated variable was the cooking method. 

The responding variable was the amount of vitamin C in the potatoes.

To measure the responding variable I determined the vitamin C content using an iodine, weak sulfuric acid method at a local industrial food-processing laboratory.

MATERIALS

   

QUANTITY	ITEMS DESCRIPTION
18	Potatoes
1	Pot
1	Timer
1	Measuring Cup (250 milliliters)
6	Liters of water
7	Vacuum pack bags
1	Vacuum packer
1	Magnetic Mixer
1	Flask
1	Hand-held Mixer
1	Durette
1	Repipettor

PROCEDURES

1. Prepare potatoes for cooking

a. Chop potatoes into 2.5 centimeter cubes

b. Thoroughly but briefly rinse the chopped potatoes in cold water

2.  Boil potatoes

a. Put 1000 milliliters of water into a pot

b. Add 750 milliliters of potatoes

c. Set temperature so pot boils continuously 

d. Start timer at first boil

e. Take 250 milliliters of potatoes out of the boiling water when the timer goes off at 15 minutes, continue cooking remainder

f. Take 250 milliliters of potatoes out when timer goes off at 30 minutes, continue cooking remainder

g. Take 250 milliliters of potatoes out at 45 minutes.

3.  Package and store samples

a. Let each batch of boiled potatoes cool in colander for 10 minutes 

b. Vacuum pack potatoes so they aren’t touching any air

c. Label each vacuum pack according to the cooking method and time

d. Set the packs with the potatoes in them into the refrigerator 

4.  Steaming potatoes

a. Put 250 milliliters of water in a pot

b. Set a steaming basket above the water in the pot

c. Repeat steps 2.d – 2.g except while steaming potatoes

d. Repeat step 3 for the steamed groups   

5.  Measure vitamin C

a. Collect a sample potatoes

b. Place 600 milliliter beaker onto the electronic balance and tare, add 100.0 grams of sample

c. Add 300 milliliters of distilled or deionized water

d. Add 5 milliliters 10% H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) using a repipettor 

e. Add 5 milliliters 1% starch solution to mixture

f. Titrate mixture with iodine solution to a blue-black end point that persists for not less that 20 seconds

g. Record the amount of 0.10 N iodine solution used 

6. Formula for calculating vitamin C content in potatoes

a. Take the squared milliliter of iodine and subtract 0.5 from it

b. Multiply that answer by 0.1

c. Multiply that answer by 88

d. Divide that answer by the weight of the potatoes

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to see which cooking method, steaming vs. boiling, damaged the vitamin C in a potato the most.

The results of the experiment were that overall boiling was more damaging to the vitamin C in a potato than steaming was.  When I steamed the potatoes for 15 minutes, there was 7.2 milligrams of vitamin C left in the potato, after 30 minutes they had 8.4 milligrams of vitamin C left in the potato, 45 minutes had 7.0 milligrams of vitamin C left.

The potatoes that were boiled for 15 minutes had 3.9 milligrams of vitamin C, after 30 minutes they had 7.0 milligrams of vitamin C left, 45 minutes had 5.6 milligrams of vitamin C left in the potato.

CONCLUSION

My first hypothesis was that boiling the potatoes would be more damaging to the vitamin C in potatoes than steaming would be.

The results indicate that my first hypothesis should be accepted, because boiled potatoes had less vitamin C than the steamed did.

My second hypothesis was that the longer the potatoes were cooked the more damaging it would be to the vitamin C in the potatoes.

The results indicated that my second hypothesis should be rejected.  My data suggests that potatoes cooked 30 minutes had more vitamin C than those cooked either 15 or 45 minutes.  This is puzzling.  Maybe the potatoes have to cook until soft, so the vitamin C is released from the cells.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if any other cooking method, like pressure-cooking or deep-frying would be more or less damaging to the vitamin C in potatoes. I also wonder if the results would be affected if a different type of potato were tested.

If I were to conduct this project again I would definitely have more trial runs.  During my experiment I accidentally burned one batch of my potatoes, and I’m not sure if that affected the results or not.  I should probably have cooked a new batch to replace the burnt batch.  I should also have added a 60 minute cooking time group.

Researched by ---- Colby D.

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