Our Experiment:We are researching hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces.We are basing our project on the Namib Desert Beetle, this beetle needs water to survive and it has a special way of collecting its water from fog in the Namib Desert. We are developing an effective way to gather water from fog in a way that is similar to the way that the beetle does. We hope to turn this into a helpful product to collect extra, free water for farms.
We are creating a surface which is a piece of plastic with hydrophobic spots to simulate the beetle's shell. We are putting this surface in a tank filled with humidifiers to see how much water condenses on it. We are developing an effective way to gather water from fog in a way that is similar to the way that the beetle does. We hope to turn this into a helpful product to collect extra, free water for farms. Hypothesis:
If we use a more hydrophobic surface then the volume of water will increase because the water will be repelled down into the water storage device. |
Variables:
Independent- surfaces that the hydrophilic spray is tested on Dependent- Volume of water that is collected on the surfaces. Procedure:1) Remove top cover of tank
2) Weight material on scale 3) Record weight 4) Place material onto wooden trough 5) Completely fill humidifier 6) Place humidifier in tank 7) Place cover back on tank 8) Plug in humidifier & start timer 9) Wait 5 minutes 10) Remove cover from tank when time is over 11) Take material of trough and out of tank 12) Place material back on scale 13) Record weight 14) Place fan on top of tank to remove humidity for 1 minute 15) Blot material dry Data: |