House+Fire+Starters

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Title
House Fire Starters

Problem Scenario
Some things that could get in my way while performing this experiment is the fabric not catching on fire, a breeze coming through the flume hood causing the Sterno flame to move rapidly, and not being able to put the Sterno out.

Broad Question
What household fabrics are more flamable?

Specific Question
Which household fabric catches on fire faster when exposed to flame: Cotton, Silk, Polyester, Wool, Flannel, or Fleece.

Hypothesis
I hypothesize that Flannel will catch on fire quicker than any other fabrics.

Independent Variable:
Type of Fabric

Dependent Variable:
Ignition Time

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Sterno Container Flume Hood Measurement of Fabric Heat of Flame

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
1. Flammability - The quality of being ignited and burning rapidly. 2. Sterno - Flammable hydrocarbon jelly supplied in cans for use of fuel.

General Plan
I am going to measure out 4 cm squared of six different fabrics. I will then place the fabric 5.8 cm above the Sterno flame and time how long it takes to have the fabric ignite. I will then compare the times of the six different fabrics and see which Fabric catches on fire quicker.

Potential Problems And Solutions
1. Fire gets uncontrollable and the fire gets bigger then it needs to be. Have a fire extinguisher near by and a cup of water just in case if the fire gets to out of hand. 2. If the Sterno doesn't light to have a couple back ups.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
1. Environmental Concern: Flume Hood could expose some of the flame and expose it to the classroom.

Number Of Trials:
6 trials will be done.

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:
I will have 6 subjects in each trial.

Number of Observations:
36 observations.

When data will be collected
My data collecting will be starting on February 4 - February 5.

Where will data be collected?:
My data will be collected in Mr. Biche's Science Room in the Flume Hood located by the door of the classroom.

Resources and Budget Table

 * Item || Number needed || Where I will get this || Cost ||
 * Sterno || 3 || Walmart || $2.00 ||
 * Fleece || 1 || Local Fabric Store || $2.00 ||
 * Wool || 1 || Local Fabric Store || $2.00 ||
 * Polyester || 1 || Local Fabric Stores || $2.00 ||
 * Silk || 1 || Local Fabric Stores || $2.00 ||
 * Flannel || 1 || Local Fabric Stores || $2.00 ||
 * Cotton || 1 || Local Fabris Stores || $2.00 ||
 * Poster Board || 1 || Mr. Biche || $5.00 ||
 * Structure || 1 || Mr.Groves || $0 ||
 * Lighter || 1 || Mr. Biche || $0 ||

Detailed Procedure
1. Get these fabrics: Wool, Fleece, Flannel, Silk, Polyester, and Cotton. 2. Cut out fabrics to 4 cm squared 3. Get some sort of metal stand so you will be able to adjust the height of where the fabric will be layed on. 4. Get aluminum screen. 5. Cut the screen so it covers where the fabric will be. 6. When you get all of the steps 1-5 complete you then adjust the metal stand to 2 inches from the top of the sterno can then lay the screen on top then the fabric ontop of the screen. 7. You will then take a lighter light the sterno and time the fabric until the fabrics catch on fire. 8. Then you will write down the time that it took for the fabric to catch on fire. 9. Keep this data that you collect over time in a safe spot until you your data into graphs, charts, and so on...

Photo List
1. Sterno can 2. Experiment in progress

Time
2/4 Begin Experiments no later than. 3/1 Experiments done. 3/7 Analysis 3/15 Discussion background 3/15 Wiki completed 3/22 Posters Completed 3/29 KMS fair

All Raw Data

 * Trial || Silk || Polyester || Wool || Fleece || Cotton ||
 * 1 || 64.5 || 123.9 || 07:08.6 || 138.5 || 417 ||
 * 2 || 56.3 || 35.3 || 02:35.6 || 22.3 || 600.6 ||
 * 3 || 78.7 || 60.7 || 06:08.3 || 63.3 || 635.3 ||
 * 4 || 181.6 || 60.7 || 03:47.9 || 80.8 || 206 ||
 * 5 || 77.2 || 71.1 || 08:29.0 || 133.1 || 148.4 ||

[[image:mwvsciencefair/emfo112-2 averages graph.png]]
**Photos**

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Results
Polyester took an average of 351.7 seconds to catch on fire, Fleece took an average of 438 seconds, Silk took an average of 458.3 seconds, Wool took an average of 1689.4 seconds, and Cotton took 2007.3 seconds. In that order was from least to greatest amount of seconds the fabric took to catch on fire.

Conclusion
I hypothesized that Flannel will catch on fire quicker than any other fabrics. I therefore reject my hypothesis because I did not do trial runs for flannel because I ran out of time to do my project. Therefore if I was to have another hypothesis my hypothesis would have read: I hypothesize that Fleece will take the least amount of time to catch on fire then any of the other fabrics. If this was my hypothesis I would have to reject this hypothesis also because Polyester took, on average 351.7 seconds to catch on fire and Fleece on average took 438 seconds to catch on fire. Fleece never did catch on fire. The fabric just melted down into a liquid.

Discussion
With my science fair experiment I ran into difficulties, but I managed to get through them. Some of the troubles I ran into is that the fabric wouldn't catch on fire at times, but there was really nothing I could do because the fabrics fibers and thickness was the problem. I also think that the sterno flame wasn't hot enough and the experiment would have been more effective if I used a candle instead of a sterno container. I think that I could have improved my project by using a candle and putting the flame closer to the material that I used. I also could have used smaller pieces of fabric, by using smaller pieces of fabric the time would be more time efficient. The way I chose my experiment is because I wanted to know if the fabrics I chose which can be household items are the cause of House Fires. The five fabrics that I used are Polyester, Fleece, Silk, Wool, and Cotton I had to drop the Flannel trials because I ran out of time. Curtains is an example of Polyester, Fleece blankets, Silk sheets, Wool carpets, and if I did a flannel trial Flannel Shirts. All of those examples of each fabrics could be easily been knocked over and exposed to a flame.

Abstract
My experiment overall was a success. The data that I received was a bit shocking to me because I didn't expect some of the fabrics to not catch on fire. Some of the fabrics only charred a little, the fabric sparked a few times but that was about all it did. Silk was the only trial that actually caught on fire a few times. I did five trials of each of the five fabrics and if I remember correctly only silk was the fabric that caught on fire. In my opinion I could have improved my science fair by using a candle. I could have used a candle because the flame would be a direct flame instead of Sterno being a propane gel flame.