Published on Sep 28, 2024
The objective: The purpose of my project is to determine the effect of different temperatures on the elasticity of rubber bands.
Rubber comes from and is collected in one way. Natural rubber is taken from a tree called "Hevea brasiliensis" which originated in the Amazon rain forests. In 1876 H.A. Wickham brought seeds of the Hevea tree from Brazil to Kew Gardens, which was near London. The seeds were then given to India, Ceylon, British Malaya, and other countries. The tree takes about five years to grow from a seedling to a point that it can start to produce rubber. It has a lifespan of about 25 to 30 years.
To compare the height of a rubber band when stretched before and after exposed to various temperatures.
I hypothesize that if the rubber band is stretched after being exposed to hotter temperatures, the height of its stretch will be bigger than after it has been exposed to colder temperatures.
• Rubber bands(selectum brand)
• Weights
• Hot water
• Pot
• Refrigerator
• Ruler (30 cm)
• Hook
1.Take out rubber band from the box and group them into threes for three trials at each temperature.
2.Place the first three rubber bands in a room temperature for 10 minutes. This will be the main temperature for the experiment.
3.Take one rubber band from the three and cut it at a point.
4.Take a hook and attach it to the edge of a surface with tape so that it does not fall.
5.Tie one end of the rubber band and attach it to the hook and attach the other end to a weight.
6.Wait till the band stop moving and is still, than measure the band after stretched, with a 30 cm ruler.
7.Record the height and write it on a sheet of paper so that you do not forget.
8.Then take out the next two rubber bands from the room temperature setting and repeat the steps.
9.Repeat steps 2 and 8 for the rubber bands in boiling water and the freezer.
10.Record the average heights of the rubber bands for all three trials for each temperature setting.
11.Compare the average height of the bands when they were placed in a refrigerator and boiling water to the bands placed in room temperature.
12.Observe what difference you see in the heights stretch of the rubber bands for all of the above trials.
In conclusion, rubber bands when placed in warm temperatures stretch more. But when a rubber band is placed in cold temperatures, the rubber band will stretch less. I hypothesized that the rubber bands would stretch more when heated and less when cooled. That is exactly what happened. The average height of the bands when heated was much higher than when they cooled.