Toilet Paper Absorbency Project Design Plan

Problem Statement: Absorbency of toilet paper is found in many aspects when it comes to choosing the right toilet paper. When choosing toilet paper people base their decisions on many factors. Those factors include price, name brand, availability, quantity for the price, and even media deliverance (i. e. commercials) of toilet paper.

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Although these factors are of key importance, what about the absorbency of toilet paper? This experiment is conducted in the hopes of showing three different levels of absorbency.

Testable Question: How does the saturation of three different brands of toilet paper compare?

Literature Review: Based off two previous scientific experiments that were found, the results mirrored each other.

Both experiments took multiple sheets of toilet paper and applied a controlled amount of liquid to each brand, in which the absorbency was recorded based off the brand. What was found is that the more expensive brand required less sheets to be used in terms of absorbency against the off brand toilet papers that were used in the experiments.

It would appear that although the better toilet paper is more expensive, it is a better value due to having to use fewer sheets. (Dunbar, 2008) (Katwith6lives, 2010). Experimental Design The experiment will use three different brands of toilet paper. They are Charmin, White Cloud, and a local store brand paper. The experiment will start off by using fifteen sheets of each brand, that will be placed on top of saran wrap, and apply 3mL of green dyed water to each stack of toilet paper.

After allowing the saturated toilet paper stacks to sit for 15 seconds observations will be made as to the amount of green dyed water that has accumulated on the saran wrap that the stacks of toilet paper have been sitting on. If any water is present measurements will be taken using a syringe to show the amount of water that was left behind from the stacks of paper by suctioning up the excess water with the syringe and observing the measurement of unsaturated water, if no water is visible, or unable to take measurements due to lack of excessive water, the amount of sheets that became saturated will be recorded.

This process will be repeated by reducing the amount of sheets in increments of five, allowing for three tests to be conducted (15, 10 and 5). All three brands of toilet paper measures 3inx3in per square. The reasoning behind choosing this experiment is simply based off of its simplicity. The steps taken in this experiment are easy enough for anyone of any age to conduct the same experiment in the hopes of different results, or to see the same results this experiment produced.

The tools used for this experiment are as follows: Charmin toilet paper, White Cloud toilet paper, local store’s brand name toilet paper, syringe measured in increments of milliliters (using 3mL of water for each test), saran wrap to collect any liquid not absorbed by the toilet paper stacks and green food coloring to highlight the saturated and the unsaturated by the stacks of toilet paper used. The dependant variable is the reduction of toilet paper from fifteen, to ten and then finally to five sheets. The independent variable will be the amount of water used during each test run, which will be 3mL.

Last, the controlled variable will be the amount of time used to test the level of saturation for each test run, which will be 15 seconds for each brand of toilet paper, a stop watch will be used to ensure accuracy. To reduce the threats to internal validity, the name brand will not sway the experiment and make the tester think the better brand will be the most absorbent. Each toilet paper stack will be treated as if they are all the same brand. Other factors that will not be considered are price, availability, softness of toilet paper or quantity within each package.

Also, the outcome of each test run will not assumed due to previous test runs, that is, assuming that the toilet paper that performed best in terms of saturation in previous tests will perform at the same level. The controlled variable, which is the amount of time used during each test run, 15 seconds, will also help to validate each test. By ensuring that the same time is used each time, the level of saturated and unsaturated sheets can easily be measured by counting the sheets that were left saturated and unsaturated after each 15 second interval.

The relationship between the independent variable, amount of water used, and the dependent variable, the reduction of toilet paper, gives this experiment the ability to easily show the saturation of each brand of toilet paper and well as the unsaturated aspect of each brand of toilet paper. Hypothesis: The absorbency of toilet paper must be in direct relation to the quality of such said toilet paper. The absorbency of toilet paper does not have any impact on price, name brand, availability or the amount of toilet paper used. This hypothesis was derived due to the outside influence consumers’ encounter from name brand, ord of mouth or media deliverance of toilet paper.

It is predicted that Charmin would be the most absorbent in terms of saturation due to its thickness. Process of Data Collection: When beginning the experiment a large piece of saran wrap was taped on the counter and it was then sectioned of into three sections, one for Charmin, and another for White Cloud and the remainder of the saran wrap for the local store’s name brand, then folded stacks of each brand in increments of fifteen sheets and placed them in their appropriate section. Brands used. Initial setup of experiment.

Initial observation of setting up the experiment was that the Charmin and Local Store Brand toilet paper tore apart from the roll without issue. Unfortunately the White Cloud brand would rip and tear easily and the 2-ply sheets came apart from each other, which was not an issue present with the Charmin and Local Store Brand toilet papers’.

In terms of saturation for this experiment it is defined as the amount of sheets that will show visible green water. Unsaturated will be where there is no green water present. This will then be recorded and later shown in pie charts. The first test was with 15 sheets of each brand of toilet paper which was saturated with 3mL of green dyed water. Testing allowed saturation to occur over a time frame of 15 seconds with use of a timer. The results are as follows: Charmin: No water or saturation present on the bottom of the stack.

Ten sheets where fully saturated (completely wet) and five sheets were unsaturated (completely dry). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. White Cloud: Although no water was present on the saran wrap, there was significant saturation on the bottom of the stack. No visible water to measure. Thirteen sheets were saturated (completely wet) and two sheets were unsaturated (completely dry). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. Local Store Brand: Same results as White Cloud brand. No visible water to measure.

Thirteen sheets were saturated (completely wet) and two sheets were unsaturated (completely dry). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. Saturation is present in above picture taken during experiment. Number of sheets saturated was visibly observed, counted and recorded. Next step of the experiment was to reduce the toilet paper stacks by 5 sheets, now 10 sheets of toilet paper per stack. This was done by using 10 dry squares for each brand of toilet paper. Then applying 3mL of green dyed water to each stack and allowed to saturate for 15 seconds with use of a timer.

The results are as follows: Charmin: No excess water present but full saturation on bottom of stack. No visible signs of water to measure. Seven sheets were saturated (completely wet) and three sheets were unsaturated (completely dry). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. White Cloud: Saturation was just as heavy on the bottom as on the top of the stack and saran wrap was moist but no signs of water. A yellow ring also was present. (See photo). No visible signs of water to measure. Nine sheets were saturated (completely wet) and one sheet unsaturated (completely dy).

This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. Local Store Brand: Same as White Cloud but a small puddle of water was present on saran wrap. No visible signs of water to measure. All ten sheets were saturated. This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. Saturation is present in above picture taken during experiment. Number of sheets saturated were visibly observed, counted and recorded. The last step of the experiment was to once again reduce the number of sheets for each stack by 5 sheets, now 5 sheets per toilet paper stack.

This was done by using 5 dry squares for each brand of toilet paper. Then applying 3mL of green dyed water to each stack and allowed to saturate for 15 seconds with use of a timer. The results are as follows: Charmin: Full saturation on the bottom of the stack, the saran wrap was moist, although no water to measure. All five sheets were saturated (completely wet). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. White Cloud: Full saturation on the bottom of the stack, a small puddle of water was present on the saran wrap and the yellow ring presented itself again. Not enough water to measure.

All five sheets were saturated (completely wet). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. Local Store Brand: Full saturation was present on the bottom of the stack as well as a large puddle of water present on the saran wrap. Not enough water to measure. All five sheets were saturated (completely wet). This was measured by counting the saturated and unsaturated sheets. Saturation is present in above picture taken during experiment. Number of sheets saturated were visibly observed, counted and recorded. The above methods in the experiment were used for a variety of reasons.

The different amount of toilet paper used during each test run was to establish the amount of absorbency based on how many sheets were used during each test run. The green dyed water was used to easily identify the amount of water used and to highlight absorbency. The syringe which was used in increments of milliliters was used to ensure the amount of water that was used for each test run was the same to ensure accuracy. The Results: After completing the above experiment it would seem as though the best toilet paper in terms of saturation would be Charmin, in second would be the Local Store brand and in a distant third White Cloud.

That ranking can still be considered accurate in terms of quality. The Charmin and Local Store brands held up better when removing from the roll and also stayed attach to be true 2-ply as advertised. White Cloud ripped apart from the roll and the 2-ply sheets came apart. Although there was not a measurable amount of water to be obtained after each test, the amount of sheets that were saturated and the sheets that were not saturated were visibly observed and recorded.

In the first run in which 15 sheets of toilet paper were used, Charmin had 10 sheets saturated/5 sheets unsaturated; White Cloud had 13 sheets saturated/2 sheets unsaturated; Local Store brand had 13 sheets saturated/2 sheets unsaturated. The next test run was with the use of 10 sheets per toilet paper stack. Charmin had 7 sheets saturated/3 sheets unsaturated; White Cloud had 9 sheets saturated/ 1 sheet unsaturated; Local Store brand had 10 sheets saturated/ 0 unsaturated.

The absorbency of each toilet paper stack was determined by the amount of paper in each stack. Charmin, the better brand in terms of softness and thickness outperformed the other two brands in terms of how much was saturated and what was left behind by the lack of saturation. Although expectations were for White Cloud to perform better than the Local Store brand it appeared to be quite the opposite.

In fact White Cloud performed much worse than the Local Store brand did, at one point in the experiment the White Cloud brand even produced a “yellow ring” around the saturated area, something that did not occur with the other two brands. This experimental design was used due to its ease of others being able to follow up with this experiment, whether it is with different brands of toilet paper, different saturation methods or length of time used during saturation. The design plan was instrumental in this experiment due to being able to reference back to how the experiment was to be conducted as well as what I thought the outcome might be.

Due to the control of all aspects used in this experiment, from the amount of toilet paper used for each test to the amount of water and time used to test saturation, replicating this experiment could easily be done. This experiment opens up other objects for easy testing by using the same materials, but just not toilet paper every time. In terms of validity, an experiment would need a testable hypothesis, the ability for statistical data and the end results that bring it back to the beginning when the hypothesis was first rendered.

This experiment did just that. A hypothesis was formed on the quality of toilet paper in terms of saturation, that hypothesis was tested through numerous test runs which was then followed up with data and in the end the results led back to the hypothesis. To understand which brand of toilet paper was superior the test had to be conducted in such a way that the amount of sheets were reduced during each test run and then the amount of sheets were measured in terms of sheets that ere saturated and sheets that were left unsaturated, doing this allowed the tester to see which brand of toilet paper had the best saturated and unsaturated results compared to the other two brands used. Multiple tests need to be performed to truly be able to back up any hypothesis or results one may give.