P1a 1.

2
Practical sheet

Teacher notes

Testing different surfaces

Aims
1 To carry out fair tests to compare different surfaces in terms of emission and
absorption of radiation.
2 To enable students to compare cooling due to radiation from different
surfaces.
3 To enable students to compare absorption of radiation by different surfaces.
4 To provide students with practical experience of measuring temperature
changes and using a stopwatch.

Teaching notes
1 In Part 1, the temperature of hot water in two beakers is measured every
minute for at least ten minutes. One beaker should be wrapped in shiny metal
foil and the other one in matt black paper.
a) Each group of students could be supplied with the two beakers and asked
to compare heat transfer from them. The students could use a measuring
cylinder to ensure there is the same volume of water in each beaker. The
hot water could be supplied by the teacher using a kettle. The starting
temperature does not need to be exactly the same for each beaker as
comparisons can be made using the graph. However, low-attaining
students will probably find the comparisons easier if the starting
temperature is the same for each beaker.
b) Each beaker should be fitted with a lid as heat loss due to evaporation of
water from the beakers will affect the results. Also, each beaker should be
on an insulating mat to reduce heat transfer through the base. Timing
could continue for more than ten minutes according to how much time is
available. Remind students to stir the water between measurements.
c) Both sets of measurements should be plotted on the same graph.
Students can compare the cooling rates either in terms of the time to cool
from a certain temperature to a lower temperature or in terms of the
temperature change from a certain temperature in a certain time.
2 In Part 2, the temperature of cold water in the same two beakers is measured
every minute for at least ten minutes.
a) Cold water could be provided from a bucket of cold water containing ice or
from plastic bottles of tap water kept in a refrigerator until needed. The
water temperature should be at least 10°C below room temperature at the
start.
b) The rate of change of temperature will probably be less than in Part 1 as
the temperature difference at the start between the water and the air is
less here. For this reason, it may be necessary to make measurements
for more than ten minutes. Again, remind students to stir the water
between measurements.

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Continued …

c) Both sets of measurements should be plotted on the same graph.

Students can compare the rate of gain of heat transfer either in terms of
the time to warm up from a certain temperature to a higher temperature or
in terms of the temperature change from a certain temperature in a certain
time.

Teaching assistants
1 Low-attaining students will need assistance with the instructions in each part.
They may also need to be shown how to use a stopwatch and how to measure
the temperature each minute. Make sure they know not to leave the
thermometer lying near the edge of the bench (or the measuring cylinder) and
they do not reach over the equipment.
Increase the size of the work sheets (and graph paper) to A3 if necessary.
2 Assist students to plot the measurements on graph paper if necessary.

Safety
1 Ensure students know not to clutter their working space for the practical work
with other items.
2 Remind students not to leave thermometers and measuring cylinders near to
the edge of the bench or table and not to reach over equipment.
3 Provide paper towels to mop up any spillage of water.
4 Take care with hot water.

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Continued …

Technician notes
Equipment
For each student (or group):
• Liquid-in-glass thermometer.
• Two beakers of water (preferably plastic), lids and insulation mats, spare
beaker.
• Shiny metal foil, matt black paper, both cut to size to fit around the beakers.
• Rubber bands or Sellotape to keep the material in place on the beaker.
• Stopwatch.
• Measuring cylinder with capacity to measure maximum volume of water in
beaker.
• Paper towels.
• Graph paper for each student.
For the whole class:
• Kettle to be used by the teacher to supply hot water.
• Cold water (either in plastic bottles kept in a refrigerator until needed or a
bucket of ice-cold water).

Safety
1 Ensure students know not to clutter their working space for the practical work
with other items.
2 Remind students not to leave thermometers and measuring cylinders near to
the edge of the bench or table and not to reach over equipment.
3 Provide paper towels to mop up any spillage of water.
4 Take care with hot water.

AQA Science © Nelson Thornes Ltd 2006 P1a 1.2 3