Research: Paints contain materials called pigments or colorants. These materials produce colors by reflecting certain colors of light. The three primary colors for paints are Red, Blue, and Yellow. The mixing of any two of these colors produce what are called secondary colors.
Red + Blue= Purple
Red + Yellow = Orange
Blue + Yellow = Green
Question:
How does the amount of yellow coloring added to blue affect the shade of green produced?
Hypothesis:
If the amount of yellow coloring is increased, then the shade of green increases.
Experiment:
1. Add drops of blue food coloring to water until the shade of blue desired is produced. Make sure to thoroughly stir after each addition of coloring.
2. Add 1 drop of yellow food coloring to the blue water. Stir.
3. Repeat Step 2 until there is a definite observable color change. Record this results.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until a minimum of five colors have been recorded.
Data: The chart is an example of how the data can be recorded. Instead of using colored dots, you could take photos of the result and use them to create a chart.
Results: Data Analysis
As the amount of yellow is added to the blue water, the color changes to blue-green, which changes to green, and then to a yellow-green.
Conclusion:
My hypothesis for this investigation was, “If the amount of yellow coloring is increased, then the green shade of the water increases.” The results of the experiment did not totally support my hypothesis. The first three measurements of yellow supported my hypothesis that adding yellow to the blue solution would increase the production of a green solution. But, as more yellow was added, the solution’s color became more yellow.
Further Investigations–
Often the results of an experiment will bring up questions that lead to further investigations.
For examples of further investigation ideas for the cause-effect experiment used for this conclusion example,