Problem Statement Which brand of paper towel is most absorbent?

Variables Constant Variables: Responding Variable: Water Cups Graduated cylinder Funnel Deli container tray Manipulated Variable: School’s paper towel Publix paper towel Bounty regular Bounty DuraTowel Bounty Basic Brawny Decorator paper towel Tuf paper towel Responding Variable: Which brand of paper towel is most absorbent?

Hypothesis If we test different brands of paper towels, then Bounty DuraTowel will be the most absorbent.

Materials School’s paper towel Cups Publix paper towel Graduated cylinder Bounty regular Funnel Bounty DuraTowel Deli container Bounty Basic tray Brawny Decorator paper towel Tuf paper towel Water

Procedures Fill a graduated cylinder with 50ml of water. Pour it into a cup. Put the paper towel in the cup. Make sure all of the paper towel is underwater. Leave it for 5 seconds. Gently, lift the paper towel out of the cup and squeeze the water into the deli container. Using the funnel, pour the water from the deli container into the graduated cylinder. Measure the water in the graduated cylinder and record the data. Repeat steps 1-6 two more times with the same brand of paper towel. Repeat steps 1-7 with the other brands.

Data Number of milliliters of water Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average 36 DuraTowel 36 40 41 39 Bounty Basic 27 30 31 School 9 21 15 Publix 20 15.5 10.5 Brawny 25 Decorator 19 Tuf 11 14 Bounty regular 32

Data

Results DuraTowel had the most absorbency with 39ml of water. In second place there was a 3-way tie. Bounty Basic, Brawny, Bounty regular all held 31ml of water. In third place was Decorator which held 19ml of water. School and Publix tied for fourth place with 15ml. Finally, Tuf came in last with 14ml.

Conclusion Our experiment was supported by our hypothesis. DuraTowel was the most absorbent. It had more strands or layers of paper. This was probably why it won. The second place paper towels were also much thicker than the ones in 4th and 5th place.

Application We can tell our parents to buy DuraTowel because it absorbs more liquid than the other ones. We wonder if we tested Kirkland or Viva would our results be different? If we do the experiment again would our results change? If we put things on top of the paper towels, would DuraTowel be the strongest?

Bibliography Barnhardt, Robert A. "Linen." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. Langley, Andrew. Paper Products. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2009

Abstract Which brand of paper towel is the most absorbent? We tested different brands of paper towel by dunking them in water and squeezing it out into a cup. DuraTowel won. We learned that thicker paper towels were more absorbent.