Does the Colour of a Liquid Effect How Fast It Cools?

Does the Colour of a Liquid Effect How Fast it Cools?

I am trying to find out if the colour of a liquid effects how quickly it cools down.

Method:

1. First I took five test tubes and filled each one with 5ml of black, blue, green, red and 'clear' colouring (for the 'clear' colouring I simply used water.)

2. I then filled each of the test tubes with 25ml of boiling (of course whilst wearing safety goggles.) water and waited for the temperature to fall to 50oC and then measured the temperature of the water, using thermometers, every 30 seconds for three minutes.

3. I recorded our results and repeated the experiment to make the test fairer.

Diagram: My diagram can be found in the plastic wallet this was handed in with.

Equipment:

* 5 standard test tubes.

* 5 thermometers.

* Four colour dyes, black, blue, green and red.

* A stop watch.

* A kettle.

Prediction:

I think that the colour of the liquid will effect how quickly it cools down because I know that dark matt surfaces are better at absorbing radiation. Therefore, according to my theory, the darker dyes such as the black, blue and green will cool slower than the lighter ones.

Results:

These are my average results for both sets of recordings put into tables:

Green

Time Temp (oC)

0:00 50

0:30 49

1:00 48

1:30 47

2:00 47

2:30 46

Red:

Time Temp (oC)

0:00 50

0:30 45

1:00 43

1:30 42

2:00 41

2:30 40

Blue

Time Temp (oC)

0:00 50

0:30 47

1:00 44

1:30 42

2:00 41

2:30 40

Black

Time Temp (oC)

0:00 50

0:30 47

1:00 44

1:30 42

2:00 41