LABORATORY Energy Absorption/ Reection 1 Sunlight is absorbed and reected by different materials. It is a sunny summer day. You walk from a grassy eld to your car in the nearby parking lot. Have you ever noticed how the air feels warmer over the parking lot than it does over the grass? You have also probably noticed that it gets much warmer inside your car on that hot sunny day than it does inside your house. Why do you think this is so? In this laboratory exercise, you will be exploring some of these ideas as you design your own experiment. Print Version '5] 5]} Reading Off Grass feels cool, even in direct sunlight. LABORATORY Print Versio Energy Absorption/Reflection 1 1Reading Materials either absorb or reflect sunlight. A material will either absorb or reflect sunlight, depending on a few characteristics. A blanket of snow will reflect sunlight while an asphalt driveway will absorb it. The color of each, as well as the texture, determines the amount of sunlight that will be absorbed. What other characteristics might influence the absorption or reflection of sunlight? Color, texture, composition, transparency, Snow reflects sunlight. mass, volume, and specific heat are all properties of a material that can influence its interaction with the sun's energy.LABORATORY Print Version Energy Absorption/Reflection 1 Reading Off 140 50 You can test a material's ability to absorb and reflect heat. 130 120 40 110 100 30 You have observed that different surfaces reach different 90 20 80 temperatures in sunlight, and you may have some ideas about 70= Made in what types of materials reflect heat and what types absorb heat. U.S.A These observations have prepared you to make a hypothesis about which surface would reach a higher temperature. The images in the gallery reveal the results of a quick test. On a sunny day, three thermometers were placed on different Thermometers were placed in direct sunlight on grass, asphalt, and metal for surfaces for about 20 minutes. The thermometers showed that 20 minutes. Note the different temperatures. each surface reached a different temperature. In this lab, you will form a hypothesis, create a list of materials, and design an experiment. You will not conduct the experiment.#1. What is your hypothesis? #2. What materials are you going to "use\" Why did you choose these? #3. What observations do you expect with the different materials that you chose