Western Governors University
INT1
Task 3

Paper Towel Absorbency

A. Project Plan
I am conducting an experiment to determine which, paper towel brands: Bounty, Viva, Great Value, or Sparkle is the most absorbent for everyday spills. I will be testing how much water each paper towel absorbs from 60 milliliters of water.
· Problem Statement
I will measure the amount of water, in milliliters, that each paper towel absorbs from a beaker. The independent variable is the different types of similar sized paper towels. The dependent variable will be the millimeters of water in the beakers. Which paper towel brand soaks up, meaning leaves behind the least amount of water, the highest amount of the 60 milliliters of water? I will test the absorbance of each brand of paper towel by placing each paper towel into the same amount of water for 15 seconds and then remove each paper towel allowing it to drip for 15 seconds. After measuring the water left behind in the pan I will compare the average of 3 trials for each brand to determine which paper towel brand absorbs the most water.
· Relevance of my testable question
This experiment is important to the real world because that every household has spills to clean up and there are many options at different price ranges to choose from. Knowing which paper towel brand absorbs the most liquid will help every day families make the decision of the best paper towel to buy for their home.
· Literature Review:
I found 2 projects similar to this project. The first one was titled, Which Brand of Paper Towel Will Absorb the Most Water?, done by Samantha P., in 2000-2001. Samantha used 60 milliliters of water and allowed the paper towels to set in the water for the same amount of time. However, she let the paper towels drip and then squeezed the paper towels into a beaker. She used this measurement to show the amount of absorbency. She compared Bounty, Sparkle, Scott and Western Family finding that Bounty was the most absorbent on average, (P., 2000-2001).
The second project was titled, The Great Paper Towel Test: What Brand Is Your Best Value?, done by Len Penzo, in 2012. Len used an unmeasured amount of water to be absorbed into the paper towels then he used the same technique to measure absorbency as Samantha. He rang the paper towels out into a beaker and compared the results. Len also tested scrub strength of each paper towel brand and compared these values to the cost per roll. He used a greater number of paper towel brands, Kirkland, Scott, Bounty, Viva, Bounty Basic, Shoppers Value, and Sparkle. He found Bounty to be the best in absorbency but Scott was more than twice as durable than its closest competition, Viva, (Penzo, 2012).

· Experimental Design Steps:

1. Gather materials.
2. Compare and make all paper towels the same size or cut to 10 cm x 10 cm.
3. Pour 60 mL of water into 9 in x 9 in. pan.
4. Place paper towel (one brand at a time to pan for 15 seconds)
5. Remove paper towel from pan.
6. Pour remaining water in the pan into a beaker and subtract from 60 mL.
7. Put the number of mL left in the pan on the chart below.
8. Repeat 3 times for each brand of paper towels to increase reliability of your measurements.
9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 for each brand of paper towel and record in data table.

Data Table:

Brand of Towel|mL of water absorbed trial #1|mL of water absorbed trial #2|mL of water absorbed trial #3|mL of water absorbed Average|
Bounty|||||
Great Value|||||
Viva|||||
Sparkle|||||

Reasoning:
I choose this method of experimental design because it gives the most accurate measurement of the absorbency of each brand of paper towels. The other two paper towel absorbency experiments, spoken of above, compares the amount of water that is drained off of each paper towel after ringing them. The ringing method leaves the water in the paper towels unmeasured. Meaning only the water that the paper towel releases is measured. I decided not to use this method as it does not account for water that each paper towel may hold on to after ringing them. My method accounts for this water by using the same amount of water each time to be absorbed and just measuring the change in water level after the paper towel is removed. I did not see any other experiments that used the same method as I used.
Sequence of Events:
To get an accurate measurement of absorbency I followed the steps listed below.
1. Gather materials.
2. Compare and make all paper towels the same size or cut to 10 cm x 10 cm.
3. Pour 60 mL of water into 9 in x 9 in. pan.
4. Place paper towel (one brand at a time to pan for 15 seconds)
5. Remove paper towel from pan.
6. Pour remaining water in the pan into a beaker and subtract from 60 mL.
7. Put the number of mL left in the pan on the chart below.
8. Repeat 3 times for each brand of paper towels to increase reliability of your measurements.
9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 for each brand of paper towel and record in data table.

It was important to cut each paper towel to the same size to ensure a fair and accurate comparison. I was also important to use the same amount of time for soaking and dripping. After the 15 second dripping the paper towels were put aside and the water left in the pan was poured into a beaker to measure the number of milliliters of water left behind each paper towel.
The data was measured in milliliters and placed on the chart. After all data was collected each trial of one brand of paper towel was added together and divided by 3 giving an average of the amount of water absorbed over the 3 trials of one brand of paper towels. This was repeated for each paper towel.
Tools:
The tools I used were a graduated cylinder, beaker, 9 in x 9 in. pan, different brands of paper towels, timer and water from the facet.
· Variables:
Independent variable: different types of similar sized paper towels. Dependent variable: millimeters of water left in the pan after each paper towel is removed.
Controlled variables: same sized paper towels, time to drip, time to soak
· Threat Reduction to Internal Validity:
To reduce threats to internal validity I used the same size paper towels, cutting the ones that were bigger, used the same measuring instruments and materials each time including: stop watch, graduated cylinder, and soaking pan. I also, made sure that the same amount of water was added each time I filled the soaking pan.
These steps help to prevent errors and other variables from changing the outcome leaving other possible reasons for a particular paper towel to look more absorbent.
· Hypothesis: If Bounty, Viva, Great Value, or Sparkle paper towel brands are tested for absorbency then Bounty will show to be the most absorbent.
B. Process of Data Collection:
1. In collecting data I was careful to make all of the paper towels the same size or cut to 10 cm x 10 cm.
2. Measuring 60 mL in the same graduated cylinder I poured 60 mL of water into 9 in x 9 in. pan as in Step 1 in the Diagram A below.
3. Each paper towel was placed in the pan of water and a stop watch was used to allow for a constant time of 15 seconds per paper towel to absorb water as in Step 2 in Diagram A below.
4. I removed each paper towel from pan allowing each one to drip for the same allotted 15 seconds still using the same stop watch to compare seconds of dripping as in Step 3 in Diagram A below.
5. I poured the remaining water in the pan into a graduated cylinder in Step 4.
6. I put the number of mL left in the pan on the Chart A below.
7. I repeated this 3 times for each brand of paper towels to increase reliability of measurements.
8. I repeated steps 3 through 8 for each brand of paper towel and recorded the measurements in data table.
9. To see a clear average I added each of the 3 trials of one brand of paper towels and divided it by 3 giving an average amount of water left after water was absorbed by a particular paper towel brand.
10. Repeat step 9 for each paper towel brand, see the chart below.

Data:
Chart A
Brand of Towel|mL of water not absorbed trial #1|mL of water not absorbed trial #2|mL of water not absorbed trial #3|mL of water not absorbed Average|
Bounty|35|36|33|35|
Viva|22|20|22|21|
Sparkle|44|41|42|42|
Great Value|45|43|42|43|

Appropriate Methods:
I used the method of measuring the amount of water in milliliters left behind by the paper towels to ensure that all of the water absorbed by the paper towels was measured. I chose the graduated cylinder to allow a precise measurement down to the milliliter. I used a stop watch that would show seconds and milliseconds to be sure that I could leave each paper towel to soak and to drip for the same number of seconds. Having milliseconds allowed me to more actually remove the paper towel at the 15 second mark as I would know when the next second was coming. I used a 9in. x9in. pan to give enough room for the paper towels to lay down and soak up the 60 mL of water.
C. Results:
Although I hypothesized that Bounty would absorb more water Viva proved to absorb the most water on every trial and on average. The results of my data show Viva was so great at absorbing water that it absorbed 15mL to 20mL more than Bounty and twice as much as Sparkle and Great Value who absorbed about the same amount. Chart A shows Viva only leaving 20mL of water behind in the pan when all of its competitors left between 33mL to 45mL. In the Absorbency of Paper Towels Graph, below you can see how the absorbance of Viva is much higher than that of its competitors. This graph represents the amount of water that each paper towel absorbed and the average that each brand absorbed. The data was collected from Chart A. Chart A shows the amount of water left from each paper towel. This data was subtracted from the amount of water originally added to the pan to show how much each paper towel picked up. The Absorbency of Paper Towels Graph shows more clearly how much better Viva absorbs water than all the other brands.

Chart A
Brand of Towel|mL of water not absorbed trial #1|mL of water not absorbed trial #2|mL of water not absorbed trial #3|mL of water not absorbed Average|
Bounty|35|36|33|35|
Viva|22|20|22|21|
Sparkle|44|41|42|42|
Great Value|45|43|42|43|

D. Conclusion
After performing my experiment the data proved that Viva absorbed the most water showing my hypothesis to be false. Therefore I reject my hypothesis, if Bounty, Viva, Great Value, or Sparkle paper towel brands are tested for absorbency then Bounty will show to be the most absorbent. In making my hypothesis I figured that Bounty would be more absorbent since other similar experiments showed Bounty be the best at picking up water. However, the error in my hypothesis may be because these experiments only measured the amount of water that was rung out of each paper towel after allowing each paper towel to absorb water for a given amount of time. This method leaves the water in the paper towels unmeasured. In conclusion my data shows that Viva holds onto, absorbs, water much better that the 3 other brands tested.
My experiment is a great example of why experimental design is important in scientific research. How an experiment is designed and making it such that others can retest your hypothesis makes data more reliable as well as making it possible to find any errors in a scientific method. The way an experiment is conducted determines how valid and reliable the results are. If an experiment is not designed properly then the data collected would be invalid. Some examples would be, not accounting for variables, or changing more than one variable at a time.
Replication is also important in science proving experiments more valid. Replication verifies the previous results or it may bring to light an unknown variable. Everyone had different backgrounds and this will give them different points of view on the same experiment. Therefore, if many different people perform the same experiment and come up with the same results then the hypothesis is more likely to be correct. On the other hand if many people perform the experiment and the results vary widely then there are other factors in play and more research would need to be done to prove or disprove the hypothesis.
My experiment is able to be easily replicated. All the materials are easy to obtain and are fairly cheap. This experiment could be replicated with these same paper towel brands to confirm my conclusion or it could be used to check the absorbency of paper towel brands in your neighborhood. The most important things to remember are to follow the procedures carefully. Key things to remember are to leave each paper towel in the water for the same amount of time as well as allow each paper towel to drip for the same amount of time. Measuring the water is important as well. Remember to measure at the bottom of the curve on a graduated cylinder.
My experiment is designed in a way that allows it to be easily repeated, makes it reliable and therefore it has great validity. By measuring only the water that each paper towel leaves behind you limit variables like, how much water the paper towel might hold onto. Being that all of the supplies are readily available and are put together in easy steps my experiment is easy to repeat. Also measuring to the milliliters when measuring the amount of water to pour into the pan and in measuring how much water is left behind as well as using seconds when calculating time allows data to be more precise.

Bibliography

P. Samantha, 2000-2001, Retrieved on 1/25/2012, http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/soar/sciproj2001/samanthap.html#Research
Penzo, Len, 2012, Retrieved on 1/25/2012, http://lenpenzo.com/blog/id1122-the-great-paper-towel-test-what-brand-is-your-best-value.html