Name: Aljay Colley

Title: Radiant Heat

Date: 3/12/2024

Problem Statement: Ashanti owns a green Toyota Rav 4 (2018). She decided to change the color of the
car to purple but a friend told her that the color of the car will impact the temperature of the car and in
the long run cost her more for gas since her AC will almost always have to be on. Plan and design an
experiment to help Ashanti make a decision about her car color.

Hypothesis: Darker colors will absorb more heat than lighter colors.

Aim: To investigate if the color of an object affects its temperature.

Apparatus/Materials: Heat lamp, a purple can, a green can, a white can, thermometer, lamp holder.

Procedure:
1) Put a thermometer in each of the cans.
2) Align the cans so that they are side by side but not touching each other.
3) Use the lamp holder to hold the heat lamp so that light is shining at the middle part of the cans. Make
sure that the light on both cans is evenly distributed as possible.
4) Record the temperature of each cans in a suitable table for when the time is 0 minutes. (The
temperature should be the same in each can).
5) Turn on the lamp, and record the temperature in the table every minutes for 15minutes.
6) Turn off the lamp and redirect it so it’s facing away from the cans.
7) Record the temperature of the cans every minute for 15 minutes

Variables:
Controlled: Type of can (size), amount of light reaching the cans.
Manipulated: different color of the cans
Responding: The temperature of the cans.
Expected Results: The purple colored can will absorb the most heat, which will increase its temperature
(it will have the highest temperature). This is because darker colors absorb more light and since light is
energy, absorption will increase materials temperature.
 LIGHTS ON
TIME (mins) PURPLE CAN GREEN CAN WHITE CAN
TEMPERATURE (Co) TEMPERATURE (Co) TEMPERATURE (CO)

LIGHTS OFF
TIME (mins) PURPLE CAN SLIVER CAN
TEMPERATURE (Co) TEMPERATURE (Co)

Precaution: Avoid stirring the mixture too much.