AD+SF

> of Wood ||= % of Moisture Before Soaking ||= % of Moisture 1st Night ||= % of Moisture 1st Day ||= % of Moisture 2nd Night ||= % of Moisture 2nd Day ||
 * The Rate of Evaporation**
 * **Problem-** What type of building material will dry the fastest?
 * **Hypothesis-** If various building materials are soaked in H20 for 48 hours and left out to dry for 36 hours then wood will show the fastest evaporation rate.
 * **Procedure-**
 * 1) First gather all of your materials.
 * 2) Record the moisture using the EXTECH Moisture Meter MO210.
 * 3) Submerge one piece of each building material in a separate plastic bin for 48 hours. Make sure the water level is equal in all the bins. Also, have the plastic bins located in a basement to take on the full aspect of flooding.
 * 4) Once the materials have soaked for 48 hours, take them out and one by one measure their moisture percantage, using the EXTECH Moisture Meter MO210. Do this for 36 hours, make sure you measure every 12 hours.
 * 5) Record your data in a table.
 * 6) Repeat steps 1-4 10 times.
 * **Materials**-
 * EXTECH Moisture Meter MO210
 * 10 pieces of wood. 2" by 4" by 6"
 * 10 pieces of carpet. 6" by 6"
 * 10 pieces of dry wall. 6" by 6"
 * 10 pieces of insulation. 6" by 6"
 * 5 bins that will hold the building materials
 * A basement
 * Tile
 * **Experimental Results-**
 * = Piece
 * = 1 ||= 5.8 ||= 23.4 ||= 23.0 ||= 22.0 ||= 21.4 ||
 * = 2 ||= 5.8 ||= 22.2 ||= 20.9 ||= 21.9 ||= 21.8 ||
 * = 3 ||= 5.8 ||= 24.1 ||= 20.7 ||= 22.5 ||= 19.1 ||
 * = 4 ||= 5.8 ||= 24.0 ||= 21.0 ||= 21.6 ||= 20.0 ||
 * = 5 ||= 5.8 ||= 23.2 ||= 20.9 ||= 22.1 ||= 19.2 ||
 * = 6 ||= 5.8 ||= 22.9 ||= 20.8 ||= 22.5 ||= 19.4 ||
 * = 7 ||= 5.8 ||= 22.9 ||= 21.4 ||= 23.3 ||= 19.8 ||
 * = 8 ||= 5.8 ||= 23.2 ||= 22.1 ||= 23.3 ||= 19.8 ||
 * = 9 ||= 5.8 ||= 23.5 ||= 21.1 ||= 23.0 ||= 19.4 ||
 * = 10 ||= 5.8 ||= 24.4 ||= 20.9 ||= 22.2. ||= 19.2 ||

of Insulation ||= % of Moisture Before Soaking ||= % of Moisture 1st Night ||= % of Moisture 1st Day ||= % of Moisture 2nd Night ||= % of Moisture 2nd Day ||
 * = Piece
 * = 1 ||= 0 ||= 35.4 ||= 35.3 ||= 34.5 ||= 34.7 ||
 * = 2 ||= 0 ||= 35.5 ||= 35.1 ||= 34.5 ||= 34.8 ||
 * = 3 ||= 0 ||= 33.8 ||= 34.7 ||= 34.7 ||= 34.6 ||
 * = 4 ||= 0 ||= 34.9 ||= 34.7 ||= 34.7 ||= 34.4 ||
 * = 5 ||= 0 ||= 30.9 ||= 34.8 ||= 33.4 ||= 34.4 ||
 * = 6 ||= 0 ||= 33.2 ||= 34.8 ||= 33.4 ||= 34.4 ||
 * = 7 ||= 0 ||= 33.3 ||= 34.7 ||= 34.5 ||= 34.6 ||
 * = 8 ||= 0 ||= 33.3 ||= 34.7 ||= 34.5 ||= 34.5 ||
 * = 9 ||= 0 ||= 33.4 ||= 34.6 ||= 34.4 ||= 34.5 ||
 * = 10 ||= 0 ||= 33.7 ||= 34.6 ||= 34.4 ||= 33.8 ||

of Dry Wall ||= % of Moisture BeforeSoaking ||= % of Moisture 1stNight ||= % of Moisture 1stDay ||= % of Moisture 2ndNight ||= % of Moisture 2ndDay ||
 * = Piece
 * = 1 ||= 06.9 ||= 0.L ||= 59.2 ||= 31.9 ||= 18.0 ||
 * = 2 ||= 08.0 ||= 0.L ||= 56.7 ||= 31.7 ||= 18.7 ||
 * = 3 ||= 07.4 ||= 0.L ||= 59.2 ||= 33.3 ||= 19.4 ||
 * = 4 ||= 08.2 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 38.7 ||= 17.1 ||
 * = 5 ||= 07.0 ||= 0.L ||= 55.8 ||= 28.6 ||= 19.5 ||
 * = 6 ||= 09.0 ||= 0.L: ||= 55.2 ||= 31.8 ||= 17.9 ||
 * = 7 ||= 09.5 ||= 0.L ||= 57.7 ||= 41.8 ||= 16.9 ||
 * = 8 ||= 07.4 ||= 0.L ||= 52.4 ||= 27.9 ||= 17.9 ||
 * = 9 ||= 09.1 ||= 0.L ||= 55.9 ||= 20.9 ||= 17.8 ||
 * = 10 ||= 07.2 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 25.6 ||= 17.9 ||

of Carpet ||= % of Moisture BeforeSoaking ||= % of Moisture 1stNight ||= % of Moisture 1stDay ||= % of Moisture 2ndNight ||= % of Moisture 2ndDay ||
 * = Piece
 * = 1 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 2 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 3 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 4 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 59.8 ||
 * = 5 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 6 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 7 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 8 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 9 ||= 0 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||
 * = 10 ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||= 0.L ||









11/5/11- Purchased Wood and Insulation.

11/9/11 at 6:00 AM - Placed all 10 pieces of wood in their bin. The measurement before submerging the pieces of wood in the water was 5.8%. Had to put numerous pieces of tile on top of the wood in their bins so they wouldn't float.

11/9/11 at 6:00 PM - Tested wood pieces 1-10.

11/10/11 at 6:00 AM - Tested wood pieces 1-10.

11/10/11 at 6:00 PM - Tested wood pieces 1-10.

11/11/11- Some pieces of wood actually increased in moisture, not sure why that would happen yet.

11/30/11 at 6:00 PM - Cut the insulation into 10 pieces, and started soaking them tonight.

12/1/11 at 6:00 AM - Tested insulation pieces 1-10.

12/1/11 at 6:00 PM - Tested insulation pieces 1-10.

12/1/11 at 6:00 AM - Tested insulation pieces 1-10.

12/4/11- Throughout measuring the pieces of insulation, they remained saturated in water the entire 2 days. I think it would have been better to have them hanging from something so there could have been better results.

12/6/11- Purchased dry wall and carpet today.

12/16/11- Purchased a new EXTECH Moisture Meter MO210, also started soaking the dry wall pieces. Had to place pieces of tile to keep the dry wall submerged.

12/18/11 at 6:00 PM - First night of measuring the dry wall pieces. Because they were so saturated in water and because the moisture meter only goes up to 60%, I couldn't get a exact measurement. So I used 60%, hopefully tomorrow morning the moisture will fall below 60%. Also had the dry wall pieces straight up against the wall.

12/19/11at 6:00 AM -Tested dry wall trials 1-10.

12/19/11 at 6:00 PM - Tested dry wall trials 1-10. Started soaking the pieces of carpet today, also had to place tiles on them so they would stay submerged.

12/20/11 at 6:00 AM - Tested dry wall trials 1-10.

12/21/11 at 6:00 PM - Measured the first measurement for carpet. When lying the carpet down on the basement floor, I laid them flat to play out how carpet would really be on a floor.

12/22/11 at 6:00 AM - Tested carpet trials 1-10.

12/22/11 at 6:00 PM - Tested carpet trials 1-10.

12/23/11 at 6:00 AM - Tested carpet trials 1-10.

1/2/12 at 11:09 AM - Had to remove concrete blocks from the materials because I didn't have access to them. Also adding one material, tiles. These are needed to keep some of the testing materials submerged under water instead of floating. Also calculated all of the averages.

This experiment tested multiple building materials to see which would show the fastest drying rate. All pieces of material were the same size and were placed in the same environment. The materials soaked in water for 48 hours and were then laid out for 36 hours to dry. Measurements were taken prior to the materials being soaked in water and every 12 hours during the 36 hour time period that followed. The measurements consisted of the saturation percentages for each building material. The saturation percentages were calculated by the EXTECH Moisture Meter MO210. At the end of the experiment it was shown that dry wall experienced the largest decrease in saturation percentages. This proved that the hypothesis was incorrect and that wood did not have the biggest decrease in saturation percentage.
 * **Abstract**

 It is claimed that wood has the fastest drying rate out of various building materials. This experiment tested that statement by comparing the drying rates between wood, carpet, dry wall, and insulation after submerging them in water for 48 hours. The materials were measured for their results at 12 hour intervals for a total of 36 hours. The independent variables were the building materials and water. The control group was wood. The dependent variable was the saturation percentage over the 36 hour time period. The EXTECH Moisture Meter MO210 was used to calculate the saturation percentages for each building material. Wood is mostly made up of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and extractives and is a hygroscopic material. This means that wood can maintain water and can naturally withdraw water from itself. Unlike wood, insulation is composed of mineral wool, boric acid, and expanded silicate glass. Like wood, insulation contains cellulose fibers. Dry wall is mostly composed of gypsum, which is made up of calcium sulfate and two molecules of water. A unique characteristic of gypsum is it can absorb moisture. Carpets can also absorb moisture and are becoming more and more like a home for mold growth.
 * **Experimental background-**

It was predicted that wood would show the lowest saturation percentages after being soaked for 48 hours and then left out to dry for 36 hours. This prediction was proven to be incorrect. After being soaked for 48 hours, the wood's saturation percentage was 23.38%. This is shown in graph 1. In the 36 hours that followed, the wood's saturation level was 19.61%, which can be found in graph 4. The wood, therefore, experienced a 3.77 decrease in saturation percentage. All 10 pieces of wood were placed standing in a upright position. This was done to simulate their positions in the home. This could have affected the minimal decrease in saturation percentage because the water most likely drained to the bottom of the pieces of wood, and because wood is able to maintain moisture, the saturation percentage didn't completely decrease. After averaging the results from the insulation data table, it was found that the insulation's saturation percentage after being soaked for 48 hours was 33.6%, which is shown in graph 1. According to graph 4, at the end of the 36 hours it gained 0.89%, putting the saturation percentage at 34.49%. The pieces of insulation had been placed flat on the ground but instead should have been placed in an upright position. They were placed in a flat position because the type of material was not sturdy enough to stand. This affected the results of the insulation because the water had nowhere to drain and it simply stayed within the insulation. After comparing the results for dry wall from graphs 1 and 4, it was seen that the dry wall experienced the largest decrease of saturation percentage, going from 60% to 18.9%. Dry wall was placed standing in an upright position. This affected the results greatly, because dry wall is not found to retain moisture, therefore the water could drain almost completely. The last building material was carpet. According to all 4 graphs, carpet's saturation percentages remained at 60% or 0.L%. Because the EXTECH Moisture Meter could only read up to 60% it was unable to be determined whether or not carpet experienced a decrease or increase in saturation percentage. The major error in this experiment involved the moisture meter. The first moisture meter experienced problems half way through the trials. At times the moisture meter wouldn't be able to determine an exact percentage, leaving room for error. Another error would be the building materials themselves and how they were placed while in the basement. Carpet and insulation were both placed laying flat on the ground where wood and dry wall were placed standing up against the wall. This could have caused the wood and dry wall to dry faster instead of carpet and insulation. This experiment could be taken a step further by expanding the time allowed for the building materials to dry. By adding more time, it could possibly lead to better results and possibly find out how long it takes for each building material to completely dry out. Another area of improvement would be adding more building materials such as concrete, metals, glass, and plastic. One change would be for all of the building materials to be either leaning straight up against the wall or simply laying flat on the ground that way all of the building materials have the same conditions when going through the drying process.
 * **Discussion-**

After reviewing all of the data, the conclusion has been made that the hypothesis, if various building materials are soaked in H20 for 48 hours then wood will show the fastest evaporation rate, was wrong. Although wood did show some what of a decrease in the saturation percentage, dry wall had the most and fasted saturation percentage decrease. Therefore out of wood, insulation, dry wall, and carpet, dry wall will dry the fasted if saturated in water.
 * **Conclusion-**

 This experiment will be very helpful in the real word, specifically to homeowners experiencing water damage. When homeowners experience water damage they need to know what building materials they need to get clear of water first so that the water won't ruin them. With this experiment it is easy to tell which building materials can sit in water because they can dry faster and also which building materials should be cleared of water immediately. This project could have been taken a step further by adding more building materials and by expanding the time that was allowed for the materials to dry. This way there could have been much better results. Also, there are more high-tech moisture meters that might have been able to receive a better saturation percentage.
 * **Application-**