How much air will a match consume at different temperatures?
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom A
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
"How much air will a match consume at different temperatures?” That was the question I was trying to answer in my investigation. To test this, I let a match burn in a closed system indoors and outdoors (during the winter) until it extinguished itself. I timed how long it took the match to burn until extinguished, and after each test, I measured the percentage of the match used. My hypothesis was that the match would burn less air and for a longer period of time in colder air because the air is denser. However, after analyzing my collected data, I disagree with my hypothesis. The results of this experiment indicate that in a closed system where air is limited, a match will burn longer in cold air because there is more air per unit of volume. There are many valuable reasons to know that air is denser when it is colder. A wood stove, or any fire for that matter, would need less air intake in the winter. Airflow through our valley (convection current) can be better understood knowing cold air is denser than warm air. Pollution in air (depending on its relative density) could sink below less dense air in the summer and accumulate in cities. My experiment simply shows that cold air is denser than warm air. This concept is related to other, complex ideas, but they are related to the same overarching property of matter: colder equals denser!
Recommended Citation
Menking, James and Davis, Logan, "How much air will a match consume at different temperatures?" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 92.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/posters/92
Poster Number
35
Additional Mentoring Department
Geological Sciences
How much air will a match consume at different temperatures?
SURC Ballroom A
"How much air will a match consume at different temperatures?” That was the question I was trying to answer in my investigation. To test this, I let a match burn in a closed system indoors and outdoors (during the winter) until it extinguished itself. I timed how long it took the match to burn until extinguished, and after each test, I measured the percentage of the match used. My hypothesis was that the match would burn less air and for a longer period of time in colder air because the air is denser. However, after analyzing my collected data, I disagree with my hypothesis. The results of this experiment indicate that in a closed system where air is limited, a match will burn longer in cold air because there is more air per unit of volume. There are many valuable reasons to know that air is denser when it is colder. A wood stove, or any fire for that matter, would need less air intake in the winter. Airflow through our valley (convection current) can be better understood knowing cold air is denser than warm air. Pollution in air (depending on its relative density) could sink below less dense air in the summer and accumulate in cities. My experiment simply shows that cold air is denser than warm air. This concept is related to other, complex ideas, but they are related to the same overarching property of matter: colder equals denser!
Faculty Mentor(s)
Carey Gazis