Tommy Freiburger

10/22/14
Science 1st period
UV Bead Lab
Problem/Background:
UV radiation is the electromagnetic radiation that we get from the sun. It is a
part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, which is the range of all the wavelengths that
create the visible, and invisible light. Humans can only see a fraction of the
wavelengths, and UV light has a shorter wavelength than visible light, which means it
has a higher frequency and is more dangerous if overexposed. The amount of UV
radiation that reaches us on Earth varies depending on the time of day and how
close you are to the Equator, which gets the most sun. Overexposure to UV radiation
can be extremely dangerous, it can cause skin cancer, cataracts, suppression of the
immune system, and premature aging. But it is also the bodys primary source of
Vitamin D which is needed for the body to absorb calcium and helped keep the
bones healthy. A lack of Vitamin D can lead to bone deficiencies and diseases.
To protect yourself from harmful UV radiation, the government recommends
wearing sunglasses, a lot of sunscreen, a hat, tightly woven clothes, and have
minimal light exposure. Finding shade to stay under is especially helpful in overall
protection. These are some of the main ways people protect themselves against UV
damage, but they also manufacture shade, using tents, umbrellas, etc., and drink
plenty of water. We became interested in the amount of protection sunscreen
attributes, and decided to test the effectiveness of old and new sunscreen.
Question: How does old or new sunscreen with the same SPF affect the intensity
UV rays on a bead?
Hypothesis: We predicted that new sunscreen will better protect the beads than old
sunscreen.
Materials: UV beads, old sunscreen (30 SPF), new sunscreen (30 SPF), two
thermometers, timer, data sheet
Procedures:
put thermometer inside bead
cover one bead with old sunscreen
cover the other bead in new sunscreen
start the timer
check temperature every 30 seconds and record it
record temperature for 20 minutes total
Some variables that we need to control are the amount of sunlight, shadows,
clouds, and the amount of sunscreen each bead gets. We are testing the differences
between using aged sunscreen and new sunscreen to see how much UV radiation
would they each allow.
To ensure that our experiment goes as planned, we have established roles for
each person in our group. The following roles are the Applier/Supplies who would get

Tommy Freiburger
10/22/14
Science 1st period
the necessary supplies and apply the sunscreen to the beads, the Timer who would
say each time a thirty-second interval passed, Qualitative Recorder who would write
down noticeable details in the Observation column, and the Quantitative Recorder
who would look at the beads and determine how much radiation each bead from a
scale from 1 to 6.
We protect our beads from uncontrolled light by applying the two types of
sunscreen, the old type and the new type, both created the same company and both
have the same SPF. The sunscreen needs to be spread across the entire bead so it
truly protects the bead from the UV Light.
Data: Before experiment day set up data tables for recording your data

Analyze and Conclude

In this lab, we tested whether new sunscreen and old sunscreen had the
same amount of protection from UV rays on a UV bead. We hypothesized that
new sunscreen will protect the beads better than old sunscreen. From looking at
our data, you can see that the UV light affected the bead with the old sunscreen
more than the bead with the new sunscreen. Bead one with the old sunscreen
had a UV light intensity of 4-5 the entire experiment, and bead two with the new
sunscreen had a UV light intensity of 3-4 the entire experiment. This supports our
hypothesis because it shows that the new sunscreen better protected the bead
from the UV rays then the old sunscreen. We found that when we put the new
sunscreen on the bead it provided more protection to the bead from UV radiation
than the old sunscreen. Skincancer.org states that old, expired sunscreen will not
protect you as much as new sunscreen. In conclusion, our hypothesis was
correct.
Bibliography:
http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/doc/uvradiation.html
Time
(min)

Bead 1 Color
(Old)

Bead 2 Color
(New)

Observations

0.5

beads started with slight color

1.0

4.5

color increases when exposed to full

sunlight

1.5

color steadies for both

2.0

2.5

Tommy Freiburger
10/22/14
Science 1st period
3.0

Bead 2 loses color

3.5

4.0

color lessens

4.5

sunscreen protects

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

9.0

9.5

Tommy Freiburger
10/22/14
Science 1st period

The sun's effect on sunscreen protected by uv beads

Bead 1 Color (Old)

Bead color

Bead 2 Color (New)

3.5

time

4.5