The Effect of Different Concentrations of Bleach on the Fading of Jeans
Kiran Rachamallu
Mr. Orre
August 28, 2015
Period 5
In the lab, we tried to figure out what concentration of bleach was best to fade out the color of new denim material in 10 minutes without visible damage to the fabric. We found that a 100% bleach solution faded the jeans best without any visible damage. We rated the color removal and fabric damage on a scale of zero to ten, without zero being none at all, and ten being the most. The 100% concentration of bleach scored an average of eight in color removal and zero in fabric damage. This means that the 100% concentration of bleach faded out most of the color and caused no visible fabric damage. This data supports our claim because the 100% concentration of bleach scored the best out of all the concentrations of bleach, and therefore is the best. This also supports our knowledge that bleach fades out the color of bleach, and more of it causes more color to be faded.
Our data was unexpected because it was expected that a 50% concentration of bleach would be best, as too much bleach causes fabric damage and too little causes not enough fading. Our experiment results could have been compromised by some errors. The top piece of fabric was never fully submerged in the bleach solution in the petri dish. This resulted in the top piece of fabric not being as fully faded as compared to the other pieces of fabric. When we were examining the pieces, this could have messed up our data. Our second mistake was that not all the fabric was the same size and from the same pair of jeans. This could have changed our results because even a millimeter of difference of size could have made the piece of jean less faded in general, because the the bleach would have to be more spread out. Also, if the two pairs of jeans were not the exact same color, they had different starting points, and therefore, our end results would be different. Due to these errors, we now know that we should cut the jean pieces more accurately and from the same pair of jeans. We should have also put a little bit more of the solution in so that the third piece of fabric would have been fully submerged.
This lab was done to show what concentration of bleach would fade out the most color without visible damage to the fabric and to practice using the scientific method, From this lab, I learned about writing a hypothesis, identifying different parts of the experiment, such as the independent and dependent variable, using data tables, giving qualitative and quantitative observations and making graphs. This helped me learn about the scientific method in general. Based on my experience with this lab, I can now use the scientific method and successfully complete other labs in the future.
Concentration (% Bleach)
|
Average Color Removal (Scale 1-10)
|
Average Fabric damage (Scale 1-10)
|
100
|
8
|
0
|
50
|
5.67
|
0
|
25
|
3.67
|
0
|
12.5
|
0.67
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
