GREENHOUSE EFFECT LAB
Collaborator: Griffin Matthews
Problem:
What conditions cause the warming of the atmosphere?
Hypothesis:
If we place a container, facing down, with a thermometer inside, and another thermometer outside of the container but still right beside it, under a heat lamp, that represents the sun, once we turn off the heat lamp the thermometer inside the container should cool down to the initial temperature at a much slower rate then the thermometer outside.
Abstract:
To begin our experiment my partner and I both decided that a good representation of the greenhouse on the Earth was a container, either glass or plastic, and have it facing down on a surface to create a type of dome. The heat lamp acted like a sun and by shinning onto the container, we predicted, after a few minutes the space inside the container would become very warm. Once we removed the lamp, the air inside the container would begin to cool down but at a slower rate then the air outside the container. This is due to the fact that because so much warm air was being concentrated in one place, with no where to escape, the warm air would take longer to cool down. In order to measure the precise temperature, we placed two thermometers with the same initial degrees, one inside the dome and the other, right beside the dome. The thermometer outside the dome was our Control that would allow us to see exactly how long the air inside the container was taking to cool down. However, our experiment did not give us the results we expected and both thermometers cooled down at the same rate.
Variables:
- Independent Variable: The bowl.
- Dependent Variable: Temperature inside of the bowl.
- Control: Outside thermometer.
Materials:
- Glass or plastic bowl
- Heat Lamp
- 2 thermometers
- white sheet of printing paper
Methods:
1. Place white sheet of printing paper on a leveled surface. (this step is only necessary if your leveled surface is of a dark color that might effect the experiment by absorbing a lot of heat)
2.Place both thermometers on the sheet of paper side by side.
3.Make sure both thermometers are at the same temperature. If they are not at the same temperature, place them both in a refrigerator to get them to the same degree.
4. Place the container over 1 of the thermometers.
5. Position the Heat lamp over both thermometers, and make sure they are both receiving the same amount of heat.
6. Now record the degrees on the thermometers every 3 minutes for a total of 18 minutes.
7. Once the 18 minutes are done, turn off the heat lamp and move it away from the thermometers, so that there is absolutely no heat from the lamp pointing onto the thermometers.
8. Record the degrees of the thermometers every three minutes for as long as it takes both thermometers to reach their initial temperature.
9. Clean your work place.
10. Examine the data.
2.Place both thermometers on the sheet of paper side by side.
3.Make sure both thermometers are at the same temperature. If they are not at the same temperature, place them both in a refrigerator to get them to the same degree.
4. Place the container over 1 of the thermometers.
5. Position the Heat lamp over both thermometers, and make sure they are both receiving the same amount of heat.
6. Now record the degrees on the thermometers every 3 minutes for a total of 18 minutes.
7. Once the 18 minutes are done, turn off the heat lamp and move it away from the thermometers, so that there is absolutely no heat from the lamp pointing onto the thermometers.
8. Record the degrees of the thermometers every three minutes for as long as it takes both thermometers to reach their initial temperature.
9. Clean your work place.
10. Examine the data.
Data: pictures/tables/graphs
Data Analysis:
The website, familyeducation.com explained,"The glass in the car's windows now begins to act as a kind of one-way mirror. Short-wave solar energy continues to enter with no problem but much of the long-wave infrared radiation is blocked and prevented from leaving." this is exactly what we hoped the experiment would simulate. Our experiment was a very simple way to figure out what conditions cause the warming of the atmosphere, even though it did not give us the results we expected. However, perhaps if some parts of the experiment were modified the results we expected would be true. Such modifications include, using a container that does not have any holes. My partner and I knew using a beaker as our container was definitely going to effect our results and that is why we used a small piece of paper to try and cover the hole. Unfortunately we were not able to completely cover the hole and so this factor could have been one of the main reasons to why our experiment failed. The container must be able to keep air locked tightly. The second modification that should be done on the experiment is leaving the heat lamp on longer, allowing for there to be a clear difference between the change in temperature inside the container. If these modifications are done I strongly believe this experiment could give us a clear picture of how the greenhouse warms our atmosphere.
Conclusion:
Our hypothesis was that if we place a container, facing down, with a thermometer inside, and another thermometer outside of the container but still right beside it, under a heat lamp, that represents the sun, once we turn off the heat lamp the thermometer inside the container should cool down to the initial temperature at a much slower rate then the thermometer outside. However, once we turned off the heat lamp both thermometers cooled down at the same rate and both reached the initial temperature at the same time. Therefor, our experiment proved our hypothesis wrong.
Citation:
"The Greenhouse Effect Experiments." - FamilyEducation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2013.