Color and its Effects on the Rate at which Clay Heats in an Enclosed Environment

Abstract

In an attempt to help the Institute for Comparative Respiration Research (ICRR) in their studies on thermoregulation, we decided to study the impact of color on the heating and cooling of organisms. As a test, we took red, yellow, and blue clay and placed them in an enclosed heating pad and the Logger Pro recorded the data. We found that there was very little variation in the rates at which these different colors heated. These results were interesting considering we predicted the blue to heat at the fastest rate. In future studies, heating sources that involve other aspects such as light should be included in the study in order to find if the colors actually do have more of an effect on the rate at which they heat.