Insulator IA Research Question: This investigation will determine how different types of insulator will affects the rate

of cooling water. Hypothesis: Dependent Variable: The temperature at the end of 10 minutes (C) Independent Variable: The type of insulator used Controlled Variable: The size, volume and surface area of the beaker (100cm3), the mass of insulator used (10g), the starting temperature of the water (84C), the temperature of the class room, the timer used, and the thermometer used to measure the temperature of the water. Method: 1. Boil water using a kettle 2. Cut 5 grams of each of the 6 insulators: Bubble wrap, cotton, aluminum foil, tissue paper, black paper, dish cloths 3. Wrap the beaker in a desired insulator material 4. Put a thermometer into the beaker 5. Pour 80cm3 of hot water into the beaker, and wait until the water cools to 84C 6. Use a stop watch to time 10 minutes 7. Measure the temperature using a thermometer after 10 minutes and record the results on a graph. 8. Change the insulator, and repeat the experiment 3 times for each insulator for accuracy Results: Material Bubble Wrap Cotton Aluminum Foil Tissue Paper Black Paper Dish Cloth Ending temperature (C) 0.5C 59 62 59 63 60 58

Temperature of water after 10 minutes (C)

Graph:

How the type of insulation a!ects the temperature of the water after 10 minutes
63.0 61.5 60.0 58.5 57.0

bubble wrap

cotton

aluminum foil

tissue paper

black paper

dish cloth

Material used to insulate Conclusion: The results were as expected, with the materials that trap more air in layers being a better insulator. When the air is trapped, it is a good insulator because it doesnt conduct heat. Tissue paper and cotton were the best insulators because they have maybe small pockets that trap air to insulate. The tissue paper kept the water at a temperature of 63C after 10 minutes, and the cotton kept the water at 62C after 10 minutes. The dish cloth provided the worst insulation, because it was thin and dense, not trapping air. The dish cloth only kept the temperature of the water at 58C after 10 minutes. The aluminum foil and bubble wrap kept the water at 59C after 10 minutes. The aluminum was was also a bad insulator because it radiates the heat away from the water because it is a conductor of heat. Evaluation: There were various problems encountered in the experiment. Firstly, we didnt wrap the insulator around the beaker evenly, so there were some parts of the beaker were not covered. This can be solved by having sheets of cotton and tissue paper, instead of a bundle of the material. Secondly, we might have read the thermometer wrong, or the thermometer might not have been accurate, and to make it more accurate we could have used a temperature probe to measure the temperature. We also used different beakers to improve efciency of our experiments, so the thicknesses of the beakers might be different, affecting results. Next time we can use the same beaker for all experiments. To improve the accuracy, we could have repeated the experiment at least 3 times. I think the differences would be more obvious if we had wrap the beaker on top as well because hot water vapor rises, allowing heat to escape. By wrapping the top, we can trap all the hot water vapor rising, making it easier to nd the best insulator, and the cooling rate wouldnt be affected by wind blowing away the hot water vapor.