Project Inferred By: Kenneth Pay Michael Chun Nancy Nguyen Peter Ho

Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this experiment is to find the measurement of infrared rays at varying altitudes. We want to know which produces more produces more infrared rays, the ground the atmosphere, or is there is no difference. We know that at an increasing altitude, there is less of an atmosphere, therefore there should be less infrared rays. With the group’s reasoning, we hypothesize that the temperature reading from the parabolic dish pointing downwards will have a higher temperature reading than the parabolic dish pointing upwards towards the sky. We further predict a greater change in the readings taken skyward compared to those taken looking down of the balloon. As the altitude increases, the infrared rays should decrease.

Procedures 1. We will have two parabolic reflector dishes; one will be pointing upwards towards the sky, and the second would be pointing downwards towards the ground. 2. Each parabolic dish will be attached with an electronic thermometer recorder aligned to the parabolic foci (place that emits the greatest amount of heat) 3. The two parabolic dishes as well as their attachment will be tied onto a string on the balloon. 4. When the balloon is launched, the thermometer will begin recording data every sixty seconds while it is up in the air 5. Multiple trials are going to be held.

Data

Result With the following conditions in weather, the launch was scheduled for 8:55AM. Conditions, from between earlier than 8:55AM until 9:02AM were that the temperature at ground level was 55F degrees, also with high humidity with foggy conditions in the area. Until 9:04-9:05 was when the Balloon was coming out of the fog and into the sun at the temperature of approx. 70F The balloon was lifted for approx ft. above the ground at 9:05. With data collected, the result was that as the altitude was increased, both thermometer’s temperature readings, also increased. There were some wind conditions that had a possible effect on the data recorded. Also, with the balloon bobbing around with the wind, the balloon at some points provided a short period of shade from direct sunlight and heat from the sun. As we were bringing the balloon back down, the temperature of the sky recording showed a decreasing graph, while the temperature of the ground recording showed a continuing increase.

Conclusion In conclusion, the data recorded, suggests that our hypothesis is inaccurate although we proved that our hypothesis is partially correct in that there is a difference between the data collected from the parabolic dish pointed up in comparison to the parabolic dish pointing down. We think the effects of the wind, sun and fog had a role in interfering with our data. Through this experiment we found that as the altitude of the balloon increased, the temperature and infrared light also increased. However this may be because the temperature sensors were finally measuring the temperature outside the fog. If we were to do this experiment again, there would be several things we would do differently that we think are vital to achieving accurate results. First, we have better parabolic shaped dishes, as the ones we used today had different focal points, making the infrared ray collection disproportionate. Second we would tie on our sensors better, because the first two times we did this experiment, we lost one of the sensors, making our remaining data worthless. Finally we would do this experiment at night, as we think that the sun had a factor in the result of our data.