Question: HOW PERMANENT ARE PERMANENT MARKERS?

Purpose The purpose of this investigation is to determine which solvents will remove permanent marker the best. This is important because if you need to remove permanent marker you will know what to use.

HYPOTHESIS We hypothesize that the detergent will remover the most marker first.

Procedure

Materials: cm x 10 cm cloth pieces Quarter Sharpie permanent marker 4 jars 100 mL of water 100 mL of alcohol 100 mL of hair spray 100 mL of detergent

Variables Manipulated variable-solvents Responding variables- the amount of permanent marker removed Constant variables-size of cloth, amount of marker used, and the size of cups

Step-By-Step Directions: 1. Cut pieces of cloth into 20 – 10 cm x10 cm pieces. 2.Trace a quarter on each cloth piece. 3.Color it in with a Sharpie. 4.Fill a cup with 100 mL with water. Label cup. 5.Fill a cup with 100 mL with alcohol. Label cup. 6.Fill a cup with 100 mL with dish detergent. Label cup.

Directions continued 7. Fill a cup with 100 mL with hair spray. Label cup. 8. Place one cloth piece into each cup. 9. Let it soak for 24 hours. 10. Remove from cups and rate amount of ink removed using rating scale 0 to 10 with 0 being completely removed and 10 being no change. 11.Repeat step 4 – 10 for 4 more trials.

Conclusion Our hypothesis was incorrect. Hair spray, winning, by only one tenth, is the best solvent for removing permanent marker. The average stain removal rate for hair spray was 9.7, alcohol was 9.6, detergent was 4.0, and water was 3.8. If we had to do this investigation again, we might try to shake the jars instead of letting it soak overnight.