Heat with Sheets

By: Sierra, Kaylee, Sydney and Liam

We wanted to test whether the color of a shelter affects the retention of heat in a shelter.
We did this by building one fort and using three different colored sheets.

Abstract:
Our group tested the color of a shelter and how it affects the temperature. Over a course
of two weeks we tested the temperature of our shelter with 3 different colored sheets.
We didnt have much of a motivation besides curiosity and we had to figure out other
variables that could affect the insulation rather than materials and size. So we made a
small shelter, put a tarp on top and put the different sheets on top of the top according
to which one we were testing at the time.

As a result of testing each sheet our hypothesis was correct. Our hypothesis was, If the
color of a material affects the shelter, then we think that the black sheet will affect it the
most because dark colors absorb the most heat. The problem with our experiment was
that some variables changed. For instance the surroundings, by the time we tested the
black and white sheet there was like no snow on the ground unlike when we were test
the pink sheet. Do to the fact that some variables were not the same it affected our
results. The black worked the best, and kept it the warmest, the pink did not work.

Introduction:
How can the color of the material used trap the air to get the best insulation result? If
there are four different colors; black, pink, white, and grey, which of the four colors can
absorb the most sunlight and why? Why does white reflect sun while black absorbs it?
Black can absorb every wavelength of light, light is connected to heat which results in
black containing the wavelength of light while white reflects it. This is due to the result
of electromagnetic waves. Darker colors absorb more heat because they can absorb all
wavelengths of light and convert them into heat. In order to test how colors affect the
retention of heat in a shelter, we will make a shelters using a tarp and sticks. In order to
test our independent variable we will get three different color of sheets and put them
over the shelter. In the shelter there will be a cup of boiling water. We will test the
temperature before and after. The water will be in the shelter for 15 minutes at a time
with a different colored sheet every time we test it, every 15 minutes. In that amount of
time we will put a thermometer in the cup and keep track of our time and temperature
change.

Question and Hypothesis:

How does the color of a material used to build a fort affect insulation?
If the color of a material affects the shelter, then we think that the black sheet will affect
it the most because dark colors absorb the most heat.

Methods & Materials:

For materials we used wood and pvc pipe to build the shelter. These materials took the
place of large sticks. We also used a tarp and 4 different colored sheets, grey, white,
black and pink. In the shelter there was a cup of boiling water. We will test the
temperature before and after testing. The water was in the shelter for 15 minutes at a
time with different colored sheets every 15 minutes. In that amount of time we put a
thermometer in the cup and kept track of our time and temperature change. We were
testing how the colors of a shelter affect the heat.

Results:
Pink Sheet:
TIMES Start: 12:20 PM 12:35 PM 12:45 PM 1:00 PM End:
12:05 PM 1:15 PM

TEMPS Start: 110 C 17.6 C 4.3 C 0 C 1.6 C

136 C
Black Sheet:
TIMES Start: 12:20 PM 12:35 PM 12:45 PM 1:00 PM End:
12:05 PM 1:15 PM

TEMP Start: 117.6 C 40 C 17.4 C 5 C End:

135 C 6 C

White Sheet:
TIMES Start: 12:20 PM 12:35 PM 12:45 PM 1:00 PM End:
12:05 PM 1:15 PM

TEMPS Start: 101 C 46 C 20.6 C 4 C End:

135 C 3 C
Explanation of Results:
Some trends we saw in the results was that they all started off warm and dropped pretty
drastically in a short period of time. They all started at 135-137 C, then dropped all the
way down to around 1 C in a time span of one hour and ten minutes. We predicted that
the black sheet would keep the inside of the shelter the warmest and in the end, it did
keep it the warmest, and the white colored sheet, kept it the coolest. I think an error we
encountered was that we put a tarp underneath the sheet so we couldnt tell how much
of the heat in the shelter the sheet was actually absorbing from the sun. Another issue
was the fact that by the time we tested the black and pink sheet the snow was gone.

Discussion:
Our group was excited for our idea at the start of this project. Once we started to actually
experiment with our question and hypothesis we were becoming less excited. One of the
only things that was kind of surprising was that the pink sheet did worse than the white.
We are obviously not confident in our results due to the changing variables (i.e.
temperature of air, snow melt etc.). We chose this experiment because we had to figure
out something else to chose to test with shelters besides materials and size. Although
our hypothesis was correct, we were still surprised about the outcome of the pink and
white sheet. If we were to do this experiment again, we would have tried to figure out a
way to make sure that none of the variables changed so that our results would be more
accurate.

Bibliography:

http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3873
http://io9.gizmodo.com/5903956/the-physics-that-explain-why-you-should-wea
r-black-this-summer
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-does-black-absorb-heat