Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
This project aimed to create a laboratory experiment for educational use to show that carbon dioxide in an atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas. An experiment of this kind was first done in 1856 by Eunice Foote providing evidence that Carbon Dioxide could cause warming in the atmosphere. Initially, four tubes had increasing amounts of Dry Ice placed in them with a fifth tube left with no dry ice as a control. The hypothesis was that as the amount of dry ice in each tube increased, the temperature should increase faster based on there being higher concentrations of CO2 released in the tubes. A second attempt was made in which two had dark colored minerals were added to help with the absorption of energy from the sun. A third iteration of the experiment was attempted using two Tupperware containers with the bottoms blacked out, one of which had dry ice placed in warm water and the other was sealed with just the normal atmosphere, and both were placed under identical grow lights. The temperatures gathered in the three iterations were inconclusive on showing Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Future attempts to reproduce the greenhouse gas effect should explore how to better seal the containers used to ensure none of the Carbon Dioxide concentration leaks out, making sure the conditions in each container have completely equal conditions, and exploring the effect of using a grow light versus actual sunlight.
Recommended Citation
McGuire, Sean, "039 - Designing an Educational Lab: Using Dry Ice to Demonstrate Carbon Dioxide as a Greenhouse Gas" (2025). GREAT Day Posters. 12.
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/great-day-symposium/great-day-2025/posters-2025/12
039 - Designing an Educational Lab: Using Dry Ice to Demonstrate Carbon Dioxide as a Greenhouse Gas
This project aimed to create a laboratory experiment for educational use to show that carbon dioxide in an atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas. An experiment of this kind was first done in 1856 by Eunice Foote providing evidence that Carbon Dioxide could cause warming in the atmosphere. Initially, four tubes had increasing amounts of Dry Ice placed in them with a fifth tube left with no dry ice as a control. The hypothesis was that as the amount of dry ice in each tube increased, the temperature should increase faster based on there being higher concentrations of CO2 released in the tubes. A second attempt was made in which two had dark colored minerals were added to help with the absorption of energy from the sun. A third iteration of the experiment was attempted using two Tupperware containers with the bottoms blacked out, one of which had dry ice placed in warm water and the other was sealed with just the normal atmosphere, and both were placed under identical grow lights. The temperatures gathered in the three iterations were inconclusive on showing Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Future attempts to reproduce the greenhouse gas effect should explore how to better seal the containers used to ensure none of the Carbon Dioxide concentration leaks out, making sure the conditions in each container have completely equal conditions, and exploring the effect of using a grow light versus actual sunlight.
Comments
Sponsored by Scott Giorgis