Inspiration
Emailing Science TeacherExtensive researching and planning was conducted, before the investigation took place, to make sure that the experiment was feasible, and was non-trivial.
The idea of whether colour actually serves a practical application outside of aesthetics was the core inspiration behind the investigation, and acted as a starting point. After narrowing down potential applications of colour, I stumbled upon the idea of colour assisting in the process of heat absorption.
The idea of whether colour actually serves a practical application outside of aesthetics was the core inspiration behind the investigation, and acted as a starting point. After narrowing down potential applications of colour, I stumbled upon the idea of colour assisting in the process of heat absorption.
Planning Process
I emailed my science teacher, with information about the investigation including a brief method, and risk assessment attached, to ensure that the investigation was both within suitable safety parameters, and was meaningful and applications in the real-life of everyday world.
Careful consideration was also made to ensure that the experiment could be done with everyday tools and equipment found around the house, and could be done within a suitable time-frame and with reasonable validity and reliability, to prevent inaccurate or imprecise results.
Validity and reliability could be controlled quite well within the investigation, and the time frame of roughly (3-4 hours) was acceptable. However, whilst all the equipment could be found around the home, there was an exception to this rule; the digital thermometer which had to be bought from a local Target store.
The plan for the experiment was to have four different coloured-glasses, each with an equal amount of water inside them, to be placed within the refrigerator, so that they could all be consistently cooled down to the same temperature. They would all be kept within the same conditions, to ensure that the colour of the glasses was the variable between the glasses.
They would then be taken out of the refrigerator, and heated up using torches and lamps. Using a digital thermometer and a mobile phone as a stop-watch, the temperature would then be recorded every minute, for all four glasses. The experiment would then take place three times, and observations and measurements would be recorded.
Careful consideration was also made to ensure that the experiment could be done with everyday tools and equipment found around the house, and could be done within a suitable time-frame and with reasonable validity and reliability, to prevent inaccurate or imprecise results.
Validity and reliability could be controlled quite well within the investigation, and the time frame of roughly (3-4 hours) was acceptable. However, whilst all the equipment could be found around the home, there was an exception to this rule; the digital thermometer which had to be bought from a local Target store.
The plan for the experiment was to have four different coloured-glasses, each with an equal amount of water inside them, to be placed within the refrigerator, so that they could all be consistently cooled down to the same temperature. They would all be kept within the same conditions, to ensure that the colour of the glasses was the variable between the glasses.
They would then be taken out of the refrigerator, and heated up using torches and lamps. Using a digital thermometer and a mobile phone as a stop-watch, the temperature would then be recorded every minute, for all four glasses. The experiment would then take place three times, and observations and measurements would be recorded.