Trying to come up with an experiment idea shouldn’t be too hard, and yet it was. While there are so many things to test out and experiment with, trying to find an idea within a set category, and then figuring out how to implement an experiment based on it was problematic. Mainly the fact that “oh, we have an idea…how do we test it” was the general issue that was had. There was also the fact that when we did come across an idea, and sort of figured out how to try it out, the concept had already been taken.
This lead to more agonizing and scrambling to try to find something to do. I use these terms very loosely. Eventually, we did come to a suitable experiment to do. This was after we stayed certain to the theme of “sustainability”, and then focused on solar energy. A basic Google search helped to finished things off. This experiment was edited to fit the materials that were on hand, and also to possibly save time in the long run.
http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/heat-produced-from-light-bulbs/
We went through several edits before coming to one that was reasonable. These changes included omitting materials listed on the website, changing the amount of certain materials, and changing the time period where the light would hit the thermometer, or in this case a temperature probe.
On the site, it says wait 5 minutes, we changed it to 1 minute because we felt it was too long of a wait. We soon realized that this was too short of a time frame, and increased the time to 2 minutes. The same problem was encountered once again, and thus we changed it back to 5 minutes, where the temperature did steadily rise. This was all tested with the 13 W bulb, which we knew did produce heat because an attempt was made to unscrew it from the lamp right after it was turned off. The bulb was hot and thus does produce some heat.
An obvious thing to have considered was that things take time to heat up, even when the heat source is just inches away from the probe. Overall, most the time was spent working out all the kinks, from changing aspects of the procedure, to trying to work out the LabView program that was used to record all the data.
In the end, we did get some things from this cluster of confusion. Namely that, everything works, and that even the lowest wattage bulb produces heat. Whether more wattage means more heat is left to be figured out when the entirety of the experiment is done.
(A copy of the lab worksheet is featured below)
Experiment: What type of bulb and wattage produces the most heat?
Purpose: This experiment conveys the importance of efficiency in relation to sustainability. In order to limit the impact of energy use on the environment, it is important to make educated choices about what products you use, and how you use them. This experiment will show us what type of bulb and what wattage produces the most heat, and this may show which bulb is more efficient to use.
Materials:
A lamp that can use various light bulbs, and where it’s light can be directed in one direction.
3 Light bulbs with different Wattage (150W, 43W, 13W)
3 Thermometers (Temperature probes)
Measuring tape or ruler
Stopwatch (or anything that can be used as a timer)
LabView program that records temperature.
Procedure:
1. Clip lamp on edge of table.
2. Screw in one of the light bulbs. Be sure that the lamps is unplugged and turned off. Also note what type of light bulb you are screwing in.
3. Lay down a 15 inch ruler, from base of clamp lamp. (1 being near clamp)
4. Put thermometer tip at the 6 inch mark. (see picture)
5. Bend lamp to be 3 inches over the thermometer.
6. Turn the lamp on and start the stopwatch as soon as the light turns on.
7. Once 5 minutes have passed, take note of the temperature on the thermometer.
8. Turn the lamp off, and let the bulb cool a little before unscrewing it.
9. Switch to another thermometer before continuing on with the experiment.
10. Repeat steps 2-9 until all the remaining light bulbs have been tested.
N.B
– Let the light bulbs cool down so that you don’t burn yourself
– Make sure that the distance between the bulb and the thermometer remains the same for each test.
– Make sure the lamps is unplugged and turned off when switching bulbs. You don’t want to blind yourself.
The lab sheet itself may be subject to change after this post.