Welcome to my blog :) I hope you enjoy reading about my experiment, but before you start there are a few things you should know.

1. I've made a quiz at the end of the blog, so read carefully.... (hint, hint)

2. Make sure you look at the sidebar for cool facts and additional information.

3. Scented markers are always on the left in the pictures.

and

4. Yes, I did take the picture behind the title.

Question

Which type marker will be have a brighter makeup, scented or non-scented? I plan on finding out using 3 different color scented and non-scented markers.

Research/Hypothesis

After doing some research, I found that chromatography is what scientists or police will use to help them identify what the makeup of an object is. It can determine what an unknown substance is. So, I am going to use paper chromatography to help me identify the colors in colors. Sound familiar? When I draw a line with a marker on a strip of coffee filter and let water creep up the strip of filter, the colors will eventually separate. If you still don't understand look at the side bar for more information.
My hypothesis is that non-scented markers will give brighter colors than scented. I hypothesize this because, I think that non-scented markers will have less ingredients. With less ingredients, the colors will most likely separate easily, quickly, and brightly. With more ingredients (scented), it would take a longer time to separate, and the results would probably be darker because of how much more there is in the marker. (Info from http://www.doggedresearch.com/chromo/chromatography.htm)

How to Do The Experiment

These are the steps I took to doing my experiment, but I recorded them so you could do it too!

Materials

• one pack of Non Toxic Crayola Markers (original)


• one metric ruler


• pack of Melitta Basket Coffee Filters


• one pack of Mr. Sketch Scented Markers


• one pair of scissors


• one roll of paper towels (any kind)


• one bowl (any kind)
• water
• timer
  

Steps

1. Take the scissors and cut the coffee filters into strips four inches long and one inch wide until you have six. (using ruler)
2. Fill the bowl with water until it is 1/2 way full.
3. Take the red marker and draw a line, one centimeter thick across one filter. The line should be one inch from the bottom using the scented marker. Do the same with the non-scented red marker on a different filter strip that you made in step one. (see picture)
4. Repeat step two with black and green scented and non scented markers until you have a setup that looks like this.

5. Keep the markers on top of the filter it goes with to avoid confusion, or label with pencil at top. No, pencil will not affect your chromatography experiment.

6. Take the red scented and non-scented strips (scented on the left) and place half of the end nearest to the line of color in the water and wait.

7. When color has crept up enough so that it no longer shows color or reaches the top of the strip, take the strip out and put it on the paper towel. Remember to keep the marker the strip goes with below the strip.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 with black and green markers.

9. Let results dry. (10-15 min using timer)

10. Record your data and results.

Info and Results

Some Info About the Experiment
Independent Variable- type of marker, color
Dependent Variable- color, time, brightness
Constant- size of filter per color, where the line is drawn, water

Results in Animoto
I've made an animoto using animoto.com to display my results from the experiment. Scented is on the left, non-scented is on the right.

Results/Conclusion

Conclusion

I found based on my experiment that the scented markers actually include brighter colors than non-scented markers. This showed clearly with the black marker (shown in animoto and side bar). As you will see, the scented black marker has more yellow and pink than the unscented. This also appears with the red and green showing that my hypothesis was incorrect. But that's what science is all about right? I thought that more ingredients would make it harder to separate but instead it just caused the scented results to expand more.

Reason Scented Was Brighter
Here's what really happened; the scented markers used chemicals that reacted to each other to make the scents. This same reaction could have caused another chemical reaction with the other dyes in the marker making them more vibrant. It all has to do with the chemical makeup of the marker. Well I guess you learn something new everyday.

Next Time

Next time I do this experiment, I would change the question to "Does salt water affect chromatography?" and test this with the non-scented markers. I think this would work better as being the variable. Maybe salt will affect the color results......

What I Have Learned

Doing this experiment was kind of like a first for me. I've done only one science project before, and I had a lot of help from my parents (I was in second grade), but this time I was extremely proud that I did this whole thing by myself. I've learned to be more confident in myself, to trust my first judgment, and that I'm a lot more computer smart than I thought I was. Most importantly though, I learned how chemical properties and reactions can belong even in the smallest marker, showing that science is everywhere, but you can only see it if you look closely enough. And that's exactly what I'm going to do from now on! :D

And don't forget to check out my other cool sci-blog www.cansunscreentaketheheat.blogspot.com