Jean Lab Conclusion Essay

     In this lab we asked the question "What concentration of bleach is the best to fade the color out of new denim material in ten minutes without visible damage to the fabric?"  Our group found out that the solution with 100% bleach removed the most color without fading much of the denim jeans.  During our groups experiment, we rated the color removal and fabric damage from a scale to 0-10, zero being the least and ten being the most.  The following data will show how much color was removed from the denim jeans: the 100% bleach solution had an average of an 8.5, the 50% bleach solution had an average of 6.67, the 25% solution had an average of 5.83, the 12.5% bleach solution had an average of 2, and the solution containing only water did 0, no color removal.  Now that our group knows how much color was removed, we can now see how badly the denim jeans we damaged.

The following data shows the averages of fabric damage: the 100% bleach solution was rated 3.67, the 50% bleach solution was rated the same 3.67, the 25% bleach solution was rated 3.33, and the only water solution did 0, no fabric damage.  This data supports our claim because our hypothesis matched up with the data from the experiment.  Our groups hypothesis was "If bleach breaks down color, then the blue color from the denim jeans will fade."  Our hypothesis stated that the bleach will fade the jean color the most.  From our experiment, the 100% bleach solution faded the most without damaging much of the denim.  In conclusion from our lab, the data supported our hypothesis because our group thought that the solution with 100% bleach would remove the most color and from the lab, the 100% bleach did remove most color without much fabric damage.

     While our hypothesis was supported by our data, there could have been errors in our lab due to equal amounts of time for each jean in bleach and the type of denim for each trial.  The time that the jeans were actually in the bleach were not 100% accurate throughout the whole experiment.  Some jeans would stay in the solution for a minute and a few seconds over because the person taking out the jeans did not take out all three of the denim squares exactly when the time ended.  Also, the person putting the denim squares did not put in the jeans in the solution exactly when the timer started.  The other problem with our experiment was that from the start, our group did not cut out exactly the same piece of denim for all 25 jean squares.

Our group started out with one pair of jeans and cut out 25 5x5 cm squares from different parts of the jeans.  Some of the squares we from the ankle part and some other ones could be from the pocket area of the jeans.  The 5x5 cm denim squares were not all the same piece of denim, so this problem could of altered our experiment results.  Putting the jeans in the bleach solution in the exact time would change the results because if all the jeans were in the solution for one minute exactly, it would be one result.  However, our denim squares were in the solution for around one minute and five seconds.  The difference of five seconds could of changed the outcome of the results.  Also, the jeans being the same exact denim would alter the results because with the same kind of denim, the denim would react the same way versus different parts of the jeans acting in all kinds of ways.  Due to these errors, in future experiments I would recommend having better coordination with time keeper and the person putting the jeans in the bleach.  I would also recommend buying similar types of jeans from one brands such as Levi's.

   

This lab was done to demonstrate how to properly conduct an experiment.  This lab was also to determine if bleach would make jeans a different color.  From this lab I learned how to apply the experiment part of the scientific method.  Conducting a real experiment helped me understood the concept of the scientific method more than just learning it from the teacher and the textbook because it the experiment provided a real reason for why a scientist would use the scientific method.  Based on my experience from this lab, I will have a better idea of how to conduct an experiment properly.  Conducting an experiment properly is a vital part of the scientific method because all the data must be accurate to draw reasonable conclusions.