Albedo Lab

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Pages: 8
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Purpose/Topic
The purpose of this lab is to explore albedo’s effect on surfaces’ temperatures. In this case, differently colored sand will be used to observe and understand how light absorption and reflection works.

Research Question
Independent variable: The colors of the sand (white, black, blue, red, green, yellow)
Dependent variable: The temperatures (°C) of the different sands
As this lab is focused in albedo’s effect on surfaces’ temperatures, what is the effect of time (minutes) on the temperature (°C) of differently colored sands (white, black, blue, red, green, yellow)? Each sand will absorb/reflect light differently; light colored surfaces are more prone to reflect light better than darker surfaces. The time set for the entire experiment …show more content…
Set up the lamp on the ring stand.
Plug in and turn the lamp light on.
Place the lamp 30 cm away from the test tube rack, with the light facing the test tube rack.
Place the first two test tubes (white and black) to be tested in the test tube rack.
Stick the two temperature sensors completely into the sand.
Cover the test tube and the temperature sensor with clear plastic wrap. Secure with elastic bands.
Place the first test tubes to be tested in the test tube rack.
Use the stopwatch to collect the temperatures in Celsius with the LabQuest for both sand colors in the test tubes at each interval (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 minutes)
Remove the two test tubes. Place two more different colored sands in test tubes in the test tube rack.
Repeat steps 8-12. Record all results in a table.

Safety and Ethical Consideration
Regarding safety consideration, one must make sure to take care while handling the lamp/light bulb as the temperature of the equipment can get very hot. Another safety caution is that the test tubes must be handled with care because it is glass, and dropping and breaking it could cause wounds. No ethical problems come to light.

Qualitative
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