Greenhouse Effect Lab
Pre-Lab Questions
What is the greenhouse effect? The greenhouse effect is a process by which greenhouse gases, such as methane, water vapor, Carbon dioxide, and Nitrous oxide, cause some of the radiation from the sun to be trapped as heat in the troposphere. Then it is re-radiated in all different directions, and when it is re-radiated towards the surface it causes temperatures to rise.
Hypothesis
If there is an environment filled with greenhouse gases, and an environment without greenhouse gases, then the environment with greenhouse gases will heat up quicker than the environment without greenhouse gases.
Variables and Groups
Independent Variable: The greenhouse gases in the environment (one had them, the other did not).
Dependent Variable: The temperature inside the environments.
Controlled Variables: Type of thermometer, amount of light, type of light used, type of atmosphere (Saran wrap), amount of time measuring each environment, type of greenhouse gases used (smoke), the temperature of the environments before the experiment began, and the type of environment used (dirt).
Control Group: The environment with no greenhouse gases.
Experimental Group: The environment with the greenhouse gases.
Dependent Variable: The temperature inside the environments.
Controlled Variables: Type of thermometer, amount of light, type of light used, type of atmosphere (Saran wrap), amount of time measuring each environment, type of greenhouse gases used (smoke), the temperature of the environments before the experiment began, and the type of environment used (dirt).
Control Group: The environment with no greenhouse gases.
Experimental Group: The environment with the greenhouse gases.
Problem
How quickly does the warming of the atmosphere occur, and what causes cause this warming?
Materials
- One candle
- One match
- One stopwatch or clock
- One UV lamp
- Paper and pencil (to record data)
- Two chairs (to support the lamp)
- Two plastic containers filled with dirt
- Two thermometers of the same kind
- Saran wrap
- One match
- One stopwatch or clock
- One UV lamp
- Paper and pencil (to record data)
- Two chairs (to support the lamp)
- Two plastic containers filled with dirt
- Two thermometers of the same kind
- Saran wrap
Procedure
- Put the two containers filled with dirt on top of a desk, and put the two chairs, facing each other, directly over the containers.
- Take the UV lamp and place it on top of the seats of the chairs so that the bulb is exposed, and directly over the two containers.
- Place the two thermometers inside the containers, and turn the light on, this will act as the sun.
- Take the temperature of the containers with just the sun exposed to them and record the data.
- Place the candle inside one of the containers, and use the match to light it.
- Once the candle has been burning for about three minutes, blow it out and place the Saran wrap over the two containers instantly, so the smoke is trapped in the container.
- Now one environment has just an atmopsphere, and one has an atmosphere with greenhouse gases. Use the stopwatch to know when to check for results. The temperatures should be checked every minute for ten minutes.
- Record the temperatures in a table. When the ten minutes are up, be sure to dispose of all materials properly.
- Take the UV lamp and place it on top of the seats of the chairs so that the bulb is exposed, and directly over the two containers.
- Place the two thermometers inside the containers, and turn the light on, this will act as the sun.
- Take the temperature of the containers with just the sun exposed to them and record the data.
- Place the candle inside one of the containers, and use the match to light it.
- Once the candle has been burning for about three minutes, blow it out and place the Saran wrap over the two containers instantly, so the smoke is trapped in the container.
- Now one environment has just an atmopsphere, and one has an atmosphere with greenhouse gases. Use the stopwatch to know when to check for results. The temperatures should be checked every minute for ten minutes.
- Record the temperatures in a table. When the ten minutes are up, be sure to dispose of all materials properly.
Observations
The starting temperature with just the light was 27° Celsius in both environments. Then when the atmosphere was adding to both, and the greenhouse gases were adding to one, the temperatures changed. The one with just the atmosphere barely went up, but the one with the greenhouse gases (smoke) went up a lot. The container with the greenhouse gases also got a little foggy, which could really mean smog or other types of air pollution.
Data Table and Graphs
Emailed due to technical difficulties.
General Analysis and Conclusions
The hypothesis was right, the environment with the greenhouse gases heated up much quicker then the environment without greenhouse gases. The environment without greenhouse gases only went up one degree Celsius in ten minutes, while the environment with the greenhouse gases went up nine degrees Celsius in ten minutes. The overall experiment went fairly smooth, and the results weren't manipulated in any way. There could have been a few changes to the experiment to make it better, however. There could have been another ten minutes in which temperatures were still recorded with greenhouse gases, but with no light, so the results could have had a day and a night section. The type of atmosphere and the type of greenhouse gases used in the experiment could also be changed to something more accurate to the actual atmosphere and actual greenhouse gases, to get better results. This experiment relates to the aspects of this course in many ways, it teaches about the affects of the greenhouse effect, the process of global warming, prevention of pollution, and much more. All of these put together can be used out in the real world to benefit the environment. If a person knows what goes into the greenhouse effect and global warming, and they know that they have to prevent pollution, it could go such a long way towards preserving the environment.