UV Bead Lab

I. Question: Will ultraviolet light go through wax paper?

II. Purpose: To find out if wax paper can be used as a sunscreen.

III. Hypothesis: I think that wax paper will not let ultraviolet light through it, because it’s slick texture and opacity make it look similar to sunscreen.

IV. Procedures:

A. Written Procedures:

1. Make sure all of your beads are not being exposed to UV light

2. Cut out a square piece of wax paper about the size of your hand.

3. Position five of ten ultraviolet beads onto a smooth surface, such as a table.

4. Cover these five beads with the square piece of wax paper.

5. Place the five remaining beads on top of the wax paper. But not on top of the other five beads.

6. Expose the beads to UV light. Record the results.

B. Materials List:

· Ten UV beads

· A roll of wax paper

· Scissors

· A source of UV light.

V. Observations/Data: When I exposed my experiment to a black light lamp, to my disappointment, all ten of the UV beads turned different colors. However, the beads under the wax paper turned colors slightly slower than those on top of it.

VI. Communication:

A. Illustration:

B. Graph:

VII. Conclusion and Analysis: The data I collected did not support my hypothesis. This lab proves that wax paper does not serve as sunscreen. However, because of the last statement, we can suspect that the more layers of wax paper there are, the more UV light the wax will block. But you would rather put on a thin coating of sunscreen than walk around with a hundred layers of wax paper looking like Neil Armstrong on the moon.

VIII. New Questions: Can different types of wax paper block UV light differently? What will happen if the wax paper is at a distance from the beads it is trying to block?