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QUESTION

Which color absorbs the most heat?

ABSTRACT
In this experiment, heat absorption in different colors will be
tested. The question, which color absorbs the most heat, is
predictively answered with black, because darker colors absorb
heat more than reflecting it. To complete this experiment, you
will need to make 5 identical pouchesone white, one red, one
green, one blue, and one black. Insert a thermometer into each
pouch and keep it under the sun, recording the temperatures
every 10 minutes. Repeat this 10 times. The black pouch ended
up absorbing the most heat, and the white pouch absorbed the
leastconfirming the earlier prediction.

HYPOTHESIS
IfIf five different colors of construction paper (white, red,
the to the sun for a period
green, blue, and black) are exposed
of time,becaus
then the black paper will
n absorb the most heat
e darker colors absorb more heat (since they dont
because
reflect the light, they absorb it instead).

MATERIALS

Five pieces of construction paper in different colors: white, red,

green, blue, and black

One roll of tape

Five thermometers

One timer or clock with alarm

Piece of graph paper

Pencil or pen

PROCEDURE
1. Fold each piece of construction paper in half the long way.
2. Tape the long end and one short end completely shut so that the pieces of
paper make skinny pockets.

3. Make a graph on a sheet of graph paper. Along the left, make a column
listing the construction paper by color (white, red, green, blue, black).
Along the top, make a row of numbered column headings, 0-10.

4. Make sure all of the thermometers read the same temperature and write
this starting temperature in the 0 column next to each color on your
table.

PROCEDURE
5. Put one thermometer inside each pocket. Then take everything
outside and set the pockets down next to each other in the sun.

6. Every 10 minutes, peek at each thermometer and write down the

temperature on your chart. Do this 10 times.
7. Now look at your observations. Did all of the thermometers heat
up at the same pace, or did some heat up faster and others
slower? Did they end up being the same temperature at the
end, or different temperatures?

PROCEDURE
Independent variable: the color of the piece of construction
paper.
Dependent variable: the amount of heat absorbed.
outco
me outcome of the independent variable.
This is the

Controlled
variable: the amount of heat exposed to each paper.
stays the
This same
stays the same

throughout the experiment.

EXPERIMENT

RESULTS AND DATA

Whit
Whit
e
e
Red
Red
Gree
n
n
Blue
Blue
Blac
Black
k

0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 54 55 58 60 60 60 63 64 67 70
0 60 60 63 65 68 70 73 75 80 81
0 59 60 61 64 66 69 71 74 77 79
0 60 60 60 64 65 67 68 71 74 78
0 60 61 63 66 70 72 73 76 80 84

GRAPH
Black
0
2
4
6
8
10

Blue
Green
Red
White
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1
3
5
7
9

CONCLUSION
The black piece of paper absorbed the most heat. Red came
in second, then blue, and then green. The white piece of
paper absorbed the least amount of heat. My hypothesis
was correct because I predicted that black would absorb
more.

REFERENCES
Cherry, Kendra. Color Psychology.
<http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorp
sych.htm>

Unknown Author. What is Heat Absorption?

<http://www.ask.com/science/heat-absorption-6ce6421f498e1589>

Gutierrez-Mazzotti, Dr. Claudia. Encouraging Curiosity for a

Lifetime.
<http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1464>

REFERENCES
Hand, Mr. Conduction, Convection, and Radiation.
<http://www.mansfieldct.org/schools/mms/staff/hand/convcond
rad.htm>

Rules for All Projects." Student Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 25

Aug. 2015.
<http://student.societyforscience.org/rules-all-projects>