
Body Lotions and Moisture Retention
Medium
Which body lotion holds in the most moisture? You spread five different brands onto filter papers and seal them over jars of water. A sixth jar with no lotion acts as the control (the jar you leave unchanged for comparison).
Over 12 hours, you check the water level every two hours. At the end, you pour the remaining water back into a graduated cylinder and measure what is left. The lotion that lets the least water escape wins.
The results show real differences between brands in how well they block evaporation.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that Vaseline will work the best because it is the most commonly used body lotion.
Method & Materials
You will measure 10ml of water into five baby food jars, spread ½ teaspoon of each lotion on a filter paper, and place the filter paper on top of each jar. You will then measure the amount of water that evaporates from each jar after 12 hours.
You will need a graduated cylinder, six 7-cm diameter qualitative filter papers, five different brand name lotions, a quarter teaspoon measurer, one bottle of rubber cement, and five baby food jars.
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See what’s includedResults
The results showed that St. Ives was the best moisturizer, while the control group placed last. This observation stands out because it was unexpected, as Vaseline was the most commonly used body lotion.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it tests the effectiveness of different body lotions, and the results may surprise you!
Also Consider
Variations to consider include testing different amounts of lotion, testing different temperatures, or testing different types of lotion.
Full project details
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