23 January, 2003

Endurance Tent Experiment

We worked in the local area of Bull Pass today. While we were out I set up an experiment in the tent for my students in Yarmouth which I hope Mr. Pride will find useful.

Problem: Given the following data, is there a correlation between light intensity and the temperature inside the tent? If so, what is it? If not, why not? What other factors could influence the temperature inside the tent?

Setup: The tent was vacant during the entire test. The test lasted for 8 hours with light intensity and temperature measurements programmed to be taken automatically every 15 minutes (900 seconds). The tent is an "Endurance Tent" which measures 8 feet by 16 feet (base) with a 6 foot maximum height in the center.

Equipment: As shown.

- TI-83 Plus graphing calculator (used to program the LabPro)

- Vernier LabPro

- Vernier temperature sensor (degrees Celsius)

- Vernier light sensor (no units - works off a relative setting, 1=100% equals

maximum intensity relative, .50=50%, and so on)

Hint: you might want to convert the relative light intensity to a percentage. Although it isn't necessary, you could convert the temperature readings to Fahrenheit. For details about the sensors, see either Mrs. Evrard who can point you to the technical manuals we have or Mr. Borda who can point you towards the Vernier web site at http://www.vernier.com

Time (min)	Light Intensity (rel %)	Temp (Celsius)
0	97.0	14.4
15	71.9	15.5
30	97.6	18.9
45	86.1	20.7
60	76.1	23.5
75	68.0	22.0
90	60.1	21.5
105	76.4	21.1
120	95.0	23.5
135	80.1	22.2
150	70.8	21.2
165	43.9	20.1
180	53.5	19.4
195	47.5	19.0
210	58.7	19.1
225	61.1	19.2
240	82.8	21.1
255	39.1	20.2
270	37.1	18.8
285	29.4	17.8
300	29.2	16.5
315	22.9	15.5
330	25.4	14.6
345	25.2	14.3
360	22.4	13.6
375	24.0	13.3
390	21.0	12.9
405	17.2	12.3
420	16.4	11.6
435	16.8	11.0
450	14.4	10.5
465	12.7	10.0
480	12.0	9.5

1. The LabPro and TI-83 were used to collect the data

2. A light intensity sensor and a thermometer were used to collect data points at 15 minute increments

3. Data points were collected for 8 hours while we were working in Bull Pass

4. The Endurance Tent measures 8 feet by 16 feet and is 6 feet tall at its highest point