Solar Desalination Project
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Solar Desalination Project
My daughter conducted this experiment using the white and black construction paper on the bottom. She ran into a variety of problems throughout the 3 trials including wind/rain, funnels falling over, etc. It is now time to present and no time (or sunny days) to repeat the experiment. I am concerned and curious about the results because they are not what we expected. For the first 2 trials, she collected more water from the containers with the white bottom, while in the 3rd trial the result was opposite with more collected from the container with the black bottom (this is what I would've expected through all trials). Just wondering.... Am I correct that the expected yield would be greater with the black bottom or would you expect that the white bottom container would be higher?
Re: Solar Desalination Project
Hi there,
Since the black bottomed container would absorb more light, and then be able to transfer that energy as heat to the solution, I would expect that the black bottomed container should have had a higher yield. Sometimes experiments don't always result in the correct result, and that's ok! It sounds like you were dealing with conditions that would have made it difficult to control variables or replicate the study.
To explain the data, your daughter could think about variables that weren't controlled that could have led to that result. Or if there wasn't a significant difference on average between the amount of water collected from the black and white containers, you could explain why this might be the case. Maybe the sun wasn't strong enough during your trial to sufficiently heat up either of the bottoms leading to similar results? What matters isn't getting the expected result, but being able to explain your observations.
Hope that helps!
Erin
Since the black bottomed container would absorb more light, and then be able to transfer that energy as heat to the solution, I would expect that the black bottomed container should have had a higher yield. Sometimes experiments don't always result in the correct result, and that's ok! It sounds like you were dealing with conditions that would have made it difficult to control variables or replicate the study.
To explain the data, your daughter could think about variables that weren't controlled that could have led to that result. Or if there wasn't a significant difference on average between the amount of water collected from the black and white containers, you could explain why this might be the case. Maybe the sun wasn't strong enough during your trial to sufficiently heat up either of the bottoms leading to similar results? What matters isn't getting the expected result, but being able to explain your observations.
Hope that helps!
Erin