ATOC 1070 Lab 6: infrared radiation and the greenhouse effect Sarah RoseGroup: Ian O., Robert S., Ana R. Question 1When we added plastic sheets the amount of IR radiation escaping into the room from the hot pot decreased. The hot pot experiment is suppose to be a simulation of the Earth’s surface and the plastic sheets are suppose to emulate the effect of the atmosphere. The IR thermometer in this case is measuring the amount of IR escaping the Earth’s atmosphere into space. The more sheets we added the harder it was for the radiation to escape back into space. The thicker the atmospherethe more IR it traps. In the sky experiment the addition of the plastic sheets increased the amount of IR radiation entering the IR thermometer. In the outdoor experiment the IR thermometer reading simulates the amount of radiation retuned to the ground by the atmosphere. So by adding more sheets we have increased reflectivity to the Earth’s surface. Question 2The introduction of more water vapor, CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere correspond to the increase in the number of plastic sheets.An increase of Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere lead to warmer surface temperatures because more IR radiation is being trapped between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface. The thicker the atmosphere the larger its capacity to trap in heat and keep it from being radiated back into space. Question 3The IR temperature for the single sheet of plastic with a hot water background was 62.6 deg C. The IR temperature measured with the plastic bowl was27.4 deg C and the dial temperature was 25 deg C. The IR temperature is lower when the puddle of water is added because there is a thicker layer of water for the IR to travel through and some of it gets stopped/absorbed by the water. The IR temperature for the puddle of water over the hot pot is similar to the dial temperature because the puddle of water above the hot pot is absorbing all the IR from the heated water below so thy have similar readings. Question 4I think the water is the substance most responsible for most of the emitted IRwe measured because water absorbs and emits IR well. This is evident from things like snow albedo or cloud cover. Both of those pheromones are a result of water vapor in the atmosphere and greatly influence the absorption and emission of IR radiation.Summary and Conclusion In this lab we used thin pieces of plastic to stimulate the effects of the atmosphere and greenhouse gases. We used an IR thermometer to determine how much IR radiation was being emitted in different experiments. We learned that whenIR radiation is absorbed by a substance and when IR is being emitted that substance cools. I think some potential places for error could have been trying to guess the average of the IR thermometer since its value had a difficult time getting set on just one number. Another reason our value could be slightly off is just the way/angle of how the thermometer and sheets were held, some might not have been perfectly perpendicular. We also couldn’t get out hot pot water to stabilize between 80-90 deg C. This lab helped better illustrate the way the atmosphere works. It made sense the more layers we added in the indoor experiments the more IR was being trapped because it simulated a thickened atmosphere. This is defiantly applicable to real life, especially since we live in a generation that is super concerned with global warming. If the amount of Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase it will positively lead to global warming because the more greenhouse gases the more IR gets trapped which heats the Earth’s