How Does Friction Affect Erasable Pens?

Voiceover

Presenter Information(s)

Bella Stebbins, Hazel Roberts

Abstract or Description

This year for the Science Fair our question was ‘How does friction affect erasable pens?’ We chose this topic because we were curious about how FriXion Pens erase with heat. This can affect people if they are using a FriXion Pen and it erases in hot weather, they will know why and how to solve that problem. Our hypothesis was: If we write on a piece of paper then hold it above different temperatures of water for different amounts of time, then the heat will remove the writing from the paper. 

During our procedure we had 4 pieces of paper and wrote the same 5 word sentence on each paper with the same pens just different colors. Next, we held the paper over boiling water for a certain amount of time. Each time we did the experiment we changed how long we held the paper and what temperature the water was at. Our results were during the first experiment the ink did not all go away within the time that was set. During the next 3 experiments the ink went away in seconds! 

We learned during our experiment that FriXion Pens can be erased by heat and not just by erasing the ink with the eraser. In conclusion, our hypothesis was correct. If we write on a piece of paper then hold it above different temperatures of water for different amounts of time the heat will remove the writing from the paper.