Discovery Card, Radiation Station

Courtesy of National Science Foundation Polar Connections
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nstw/teach/nstw98/english/actc/dscrd1.htm

1. Record the room temperature.
2. Cut three lengths of string at least 40 cm long. Mark each string at points 5 cm apart.
3. Set up the lamp.
4. Without touching the electric light, three people hold a thermometer on either side and on top of the light as closely as possible. Hold the thermometers by the edge so that your body heat doesn't affect results. When the temperature stops rising noticeably (say, when temperature change is less than one degree per minute), record the temperature. Cool the thermometer under a faucet between readings.
5. Hold each thermometer 5 cm farther out from the center of the light source. (Use the strings to make sure the distances are equal.) Record the temperature.
6. Continue measuring and recording at increments of 5 cm, moving out along the measured strings, until the thermometer registers within a degree of room temperature.
7. Use your data to make a "heat map" or graph of the heat source. How can you show the changes in temperature visually on paper? What do you think caused the temperature to fall?