Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I was interested in "Absorption of Radiant Energy by Different Colors" proyect (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#summary)
and I was wondering if making a Spectrophotometer would increase my proyect quality/content? (are those proyects related in any way? how so?). THANK YOU.

Hello akimit,

A device that would measure the reflected light as a function of wavelength would certainly provide additional interesting information. You could try to determine whether the reflected energy plus the absorbed energy equals the incident energy.
Many factors will have to be taken into account with the reflected information. For example, does the colored paper reflect the same in all directions? How can you calibrate the spectrophotometer to determine the energy entering it from the direct reading?
I don't want to discourage you from expanding your experiment, but just think carefully about the time you have and what you can realistically do before your deadlines.

Good luck, WW