Infrared+Light+Experiment+by+Jesse+and+Holly

We planned to begin the project on a sunny day with very little clouds outside to test our hypotheses properly. We set up the experiment by finding a cardboard box with dimensions 13x9, and then taping a white piece of xerox paper on the bottom in order to create a contrast between the colors of the spectrum and its background. We set the box in the sunlight and using scissors, cut a rectangle on the top of the side of the box where we set the glass triangular prism. The prism reflects and bends the rays of the sun to measure the temperatures of infrared light, which we can not usually see with our bare eyes. We tested which angle projected the most vibrant spectrum onto the piece of paper by rotating the prism. Once we got a clear spectrum of the six colors, we used duct tape to keep it in place. Next, we put a piece of black electrical tape on the bulb of the thermometer to better absorb the heat. Then, we set a thermometer in the box away from the colors of the spectrum to set a neutral temperature as our control group. We left it for ten minutes, timed using a stop watch, and recorded the temperature. Following this step, we placed the bulb onto the red section of the spectrum, and ten minutes later recorded the temperature change. We repeated this step for each remaining level of the independent variable: orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. We tested the control group and the colors of the spectrum for temperature changes three times each, to get more accurate results. Once we had all our results, we found the average differences in temperature for each color and put the results into a data table.
 * Materials and Methods**