1. Life of a Permanent marker

2. Are permanent markers really permanent?
Question
Are permanent markers really permanent?

3. Purpose
The purpose of my investigation is to determine if a permanent marker is really permanent. This is important to know because if you were buying a permanent marker you would want to know if the marker was really worth the money.

4. Hypothesis
I hypothesize that the sharpie won`t be as permanent as you would think. I believe this because the sharpie can come off your hands and sometimes the walls with special stuff.

5. Procedure

6. Materials
Detergent Scissors 15 5 cm x 5 cm fabric squares 1 marker (a - Sharpie) 1 marker (b - Caliber) 1 marker (c- Office Depot) Dryer Washer

7. Variable Manipulate: Brand of markers
Responding: Percentage of ink left on the fabric
Constant: size of fabric, type ,(Purex),and amount of detergent, method of washing and drying, method of marking fabric

8. Directions
1. Gather materials 2. Cut 15 5cm X 5cm fabric squares 3. Draw a letter A on one fabric square using brand A marker. 4. Draw a letter B on one fabric square using brand B marker. 5. Draw a letter C on one fabric square using brand C marker. 6. Place fabric squares A, B, and C in the washing machine. Add Purex detergent and wash. When finished, place in dryer to dry. 7. Using the rating scale 1 to 5, rate each square for the amount of ink still remaining with 1 being nothing remaining and 5 being all ink remaining. Record score for each square. 8. Repeat steps 3 ~7 for 4 more trials. 9. Caculate the average score for each brand of marker.

9. Rating Scale: 1 = no ink remaining 5 = all ink remaining
Data CHART
INK REMOVAL RATE
BRAND
TRIAL 1
TRIAL 2
TRIAL 3
TRIAL 4
TRIAL 5
AVERAGE
Sharpie 5 4
4.4
Caliber 3 2
2.8
Office Depot
Rating Scale: 1 = no ink remaining = all ink remaining

10. GRAPH

11. CONCLUSION
My hypothesis was correct. Permanent markers are not fully permanent. The Sharpie left an average of 4.4 on the fabric, based on the rating scale of 1 being no ink remaining and 5 being all ink remaining. The Caliber brand marker left 2.8 on the fabric. The Office Depot brand left 2.8 on the fabric as well. If I had to do this again I would use a pink or blue marker to see if my results would change.