Monday, March 9, 2009

Abby Post #2

I put each air-dry clay under two pounds of wieght. After an hour i meausre how thick the clay was in centimeters. Here is my chart:

Air-Dry Clay Height Before Experiment Height After Experiment
Blue 3 cm 1.5 cm
Green 3 cm 1.2 cm
Pink 3 cm .6 cm
Brown 3 cm 2.5 cm

And here are my pics:








The first of a color of clay is the begging of the hour and the second picture of that sertain kind is the end of the hour! In my previous post i put the recipes in case anyonjhe is intersested!

How Conductivity Effects Different Baking Pans 2

After the baking part of the experiment was over, I recorded the observations that I made based from the data table with all the temperatures of each pan. The Pyrex was the best conductor. It gained heat extremely quickly, but surprisingly slowed down once was in there longer. This maybe because glass is known as a insulator and will keep the heat it already has and keep out the heat trying to come in. The metal pan was the second best conductor. The metal pan took awhile to heat up, but kept increasing in temperature. The aluminum pan was the worst conductor, because its temperatures were not consistent throughout the cake.

Trebuchet

Heres a video of the trebuchet firing.
Heres a video of the Catapult firing.

Catapults Versus Trebuchets



Yesterday I began my experiment. I had finished building the catapults on thursday. I placed my catapult and my trebuchet next to each other in an open area. I shot ball one, three times from each weapon, and measured the distances. Then, I fired ball two, which was lighter, three times from each weapon, and measured the distances. I concluded, it was just as I had hypothesized. The catapults throws were much farther than the trebuchets, about two times farther. So my experiment was allot of fun and a great success. I know now that based on a range a catapult would be more fit for battle than a trebuchet.

How Conductivity Effects Different Baking Pans

This post is long over due, since I preformed the first part of the actual experiment on the weekend of March 1st. On that Saturday, I collected all my materials, including 3 Betty Crocker cake mixes, an 9" aluminum pan, a 9" metal pan, and a 9" glass (Pyrex) pan. I then preformed the Pyrex first. I put it in the oven for 10 minutes to start off at 350 Degrees. AFter the 10 minutes finished, I took thermometers and placed them in the center, two on the bottom and one on the top. Until it was 30 minutes, I took the temperature every 5 minutes. These steps were repeated with the other two pans.

Long, Tedious and a Pain in the You-Know-Where (or TJ's Hurricane Experiment)

Sorry for the big delay, but my project was in fact long and tedious, and, as such was hard. However, I did get plenty out of this project. My abstract was the polar opposite of my project short and sweet. Here it is:

Hurricanes cause a lot of damage on costal areas. This damage is among the most costly in the world, sometimes upwards of 1 billion dollars. This damage is from 3 sources: wind, rain and storm surge. Storm surge is the heightening of the tide due to a hurricane. The storm surge was found to be the most dangerous of all portions. Therefore, storm surge should be protected against the most when a hurricane is coming.


I also got several great pictures, and a video.



A great picture of a rain trial that was a complete accident: it was taken from a behind the back position


The end result of the second storm surge trial



The first rain trial's result.



A wind trial set up. The Legos are merely indicators of wind speed, etc.



The video I was talking about (It is edited)


A really bad Star Wars joke (Sorry George Lucas). The R stands for rain.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

the Effects of Acid

This is my second post. The results of my experiment were unchanged after the seventh day. The results of days one through seven are shown in my first post. I can say what I did after the experiment, though. The nails still had to be weighed and the liquids, which the nails were in, still needed their pH taken. When something becomes corroded, its mass decreases. The brass nails that were in the water and vinegar weighed the same. This is because the brass nails were more resistant to corrosion. The iron in the vinegar weighed less than the iron in the water and much less than the iron in the air. This is because iron is not resistant to corrosion at all. The stainless steel had very close results to that of the iron because steel is an alloy made partly of iron, which is not resistant to corrosion. Something that was surprising in this experiment is that the pH of the water and vinegar after the nails had been in them was higher, meaning they were more basic.

Observations for 86% cocoa third trial


This trial was the last. As always the chocolate squares had to be broken into pieces and put on the stove, and the stove turned on. After a little bit, the chocolate bits began to melt. 86% cocoa was noticeably slower than 60% cocoa and little slower than 72% cocoa. Even after pushing the chocolate down with the candy thermometer, the chocolate melting rate was still slow. Finally, it melted. The 86% trials took longer than the 60 and 72% cocoa trials. This was because there is more fat in a bar of chocolate with a greater amount of cocoa, meaning that it will take longer to melt.

Observations for 72% cocoa on 2nd trial


Now I'm onto 72% cocoa trials. The first thing the chocolate did soon after turning on the stove, although not as fast as 60% cocoa, was the chocolate on the bottom and the sides began to melt. The pile of chocolate began to shrink and no longer looked like it was about to spill over. Once the melting process got to this point I poked the chocolate with the thermometer and the rest of the remaining chocolate melted quickly. After the chocolate was melted in the place of the chocolate pieces was melted chocolate and it was viable for temperature taking.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Observing for 60% cocoa



This was the third trial for 60% cocoa of Ghirardelli chocolate. After breaking up the chocolate and putting it on the stove, the chocolate melted rather quickly. At first the bottom had the shiny quality, then you could see the sides and bottom were melting rapidly and the pile of chocolate began to shrink. After slightly pushing down on the chocolate with the candy thermometer it soon melted and I was able to take the temperature.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Kayleigh - Part 2


I have burned all 11 types of fabrics and watching the fabrics burn in the dark was fun. Each fabric burned in a totally different way, some fast, others slow. My favorite was jute because the way it is weaved it lit up in a cool pattern and it burned for the longest time. Polyester was interesting because it melted and it looked really sticky, like hot glue. Probably the worst smell out of all of them was denim which smelled like rancid chemicals.
Most of the fabrics did match what was on the burn chart and I was able to correctly identify what some were. It was difficult to actually tell if they were melting or burning depending if they are engulfed in flames. (i tried to put a video but it took too long.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Christian Experiment part two




This is the second post for my project. After executing the more accurate procedure results made much more sense. Instead of taking the time for the water to boil i took the temperature at which it reached when it was boiling. For the freezing i made sure the salt crystals were dissolved in the water before i put them in the freezer. My two hypothesis were correct, iodized salt-water solution requires the highest temperature to boil, and halite salt delays the time in which water freezes.I could have made my experiment more acurate by finding a way in which to determine what was boiling and what was not. Enjoy the pictures below.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Sasha Andracchio-2nd post on the blog

Now, here is the rest of my project from March 2nd. I used the trombone to determine how length affects the pitch in sound of musical instruments. When the main slide was fully retracted I played a flat F. Then I extended the main slide by 3 inches. When I played the instrument a flat of E was shown on my tuner. When the main slide was extended by 3 more inches the result was a flat of E flat and then 3 more inches was a flat of D. Then when the tube was retracted by 3 inches the note was a flat of E. When the tube was retracted again 3 inches the note was a flat of E. For the Bb clarinet when all tubes were connected the note played was a sharp of A. When the top tube called the mouthpiece was separated by 1/4 of an inch the note was a flat of A. For the other tubes: barrel (more flat of A), upper joint (sharp of G sharp) and the bell (sharp of G sharp). When the bell was pushed up all the way the note was a sharp of G sharp, for the upper joint pushed up fully flat of A and upper joint less flat of A. That is the entire experiment.

Sasha Andracchio

Sasha Andracchio- I began my project on February 27. I should have posted on the blog then but I will post now for that date. I have used the guitar in my experiment which is: How shape, size and material changes the pitch of musical instruments. After the low E string was fully tuned the tuning key was turned clockwise halfway once. When the string was played the tuner showed the note was a flat F. Then the tuning key was turned again. When it was turned again and the string was played the note was a sharp F. And again it was a sharp F sharp. Then the tuning key was turned counterclockwise halfway once. The string was played and the tuner showed a sharp F. Then again and the note was a flat F and again it was an E.

Christian-How Does Salt Affect the Boiling & Freezing Points of Water?

This post is long over due. Two weekends ago I officially started my project. After finishing the Boiling part of the project the results I had collected were very bazar. I decided to look at my procedure and find any way I could make it more accurate. The first thing I found was to take the temperature of the water before its boiled to make sure they are all the same. Another variable was the heat of the stove because if it was left on it would take less time to boil the water then if it was just turned on and had to warm up. Another variable is what is considered boiling. This variable is very hard to measure but I did my best in being as accurate as I could be. For the freezing part of the experiment I used less water and stirred the salt into the solution until no grains could be seen. In my next post will be the results of the experiment along with a few pictures I took along the way.

How does Salt Affect the Boiling and