An investigation into the properties of insulators.

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An investigation into the properties of insulators.

Aim

To show that good insulators have trapped pockets of air.

Insulators

The four insulators we are going to use are Bubble Wrap, Cotton Wool, Cardboard and Newspaper. We are also going to test the amount of heat lost without any form of insulator so that we can compare the results.

Equipment

The equipment required for this experiment is:

Boiling tubes

Boiling water

Thermometer

Stop Watch

Four chosen insulators

Stand (to clamp the boiling tubes on)

Preliminary Work

We could not decide between us, which type of container to use – boiling tubes or metal beakers. We tested both out to determine which gave the fairest results; and we decided that the boiling tube was the better of the two. We thought this because metal is a good conductor of heat, and if we used a metal beaker it would work against the insulators.

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Prediction

I predict that cotton wool will be the best insulator (and the poorest conductor) because it has trapped pockets of air. I think that trapped pockets of air are very important in insulators because the air within them are trapped and so cannot move, therefore convection currents cannot occur; which makes the still air a good insulator. Air is a good insulator because the particles are far apart so heat cannot transfer through the particles as fast or as easy as it could in a metal.
If you are insulating something, and the air space is too ...

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