
Wind, Evaporation, and Cooling
Medium
A fan feels cool on your skin but does it actually lower the temperature? When air blows across a wet surface it speeds up evaporation (the process of liquid turning to gas). This project measures how much faster.
You place two pans of warm water at equal distances from a fan. One pan sits directly in the airflow. The other sits out of reach of any breeze. Turn the fan to medium speed and check both pans at regular intervals.
The pan in the airflow evaporates in about three and a half hours. The other pan takes about twenty-seven hours. The moving air sweeps away the warm moisture layer and replaces it with cooler dry air.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the pan with the air current blowing on it will evaporate faster than the second pan.
Method & Materials
You will place two pans of warm water 16 inches apart, one with a fan blowing on it and one without. You will check the pans at 15-minute intervals and record the results.
You will need two pans, a fan, warm water, a log book, and a measuring cup.
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See what’s includedResults
The results showed that the pan with the air current blowing on it evaporated 5.170 times faster than the second pan. This suggests that the fan was able to evaporate the water quicker and replace it with a cooler, dryer layer.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how wind can be used to cool us down.
Also Consider
Variations to consider include using different temperatures of water or different speeds of the fan.
Full project details
Additional information and source material for this project are available below.Related video
These videos explain the science behind this project and demonstrate key concepts used in the experiment.
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