Comparing the thermal insulating properties of different materials
Sophie Vernon 10a
Mr Gale
Physics Coursework 2
Comparing the thermal insulating properties of different materials
Brief
Two students lived in the same street in houses that were identical in size and shape. However, in winter they noticed that one of the homes had higher fuel bills than the other. They found this surprising because both of the homes had the same central heating system and were kept at the same temperature.
The students decided to investigate this by using a beaker of water as the model for the house. Changing the type of insulation, measuring the temperature of the water in beaker and keeping the same the initial temperature of the water, the size of the beaker, the volume of the water and the thickness of the insulation.
Three beakers were carefully insulated with a thickness of 0.5cm of material. However, because of it's shape the bubble plastic the same thickness all over. The beakers were insulated on the top and bottom as well as round the sides. One beaker with no insulation was used as a control experiment.
50cm of hot water was added to each beaker. The lids were fitted straight away. The initial temperature of water in all beakers were as similar as possible.
The students did a trial run of the experiment and found that their results changed most in the first 40 minutes. They therefore decided to take the temperatures every 2 minutes for 40 minutes.
The students predicted that the bubble plastic would be the best insulator.
The students repeated the whole procedure twice to provide three sets of results.
I predict that the bubble plastic will be the best insulator for the water. I think this because the bubble plastic is in affect a layer of trapped air around the beaker. This means that when the air in side the bubble plastic heats up it will warm the water inside of the beaker and although still loosing heat through conduction it will insulate the water inside effectively like a bird does with trapped air underneath its feathers. Therefore I expect it to be the most efficient insulator.
The results below are the average for the three experiments that the students did.
We must produce a piece of coursework investigating the rates of reaction, and the effect different changes have on them. The rate of reaction is the rate of loss of a reactant or the rate of formation of a product during a chemical reaction. It is measured by dividing 1 by the time taken for the reaction to take place. There is five factors which affect the rate of a reaction, according to the collision theory of reacting particles: temperature, concentration (of solution), pressure (in gases), surface are (of solid reactants), and catalysts. I have chosen to investigate the effect temperature and concentration have on a reaction. This is because they are the most practical to investigate - it would take longer to prepare a solid in powdered and unpowdered form, and it is difficult to get accurate readings due to the inevitabilities of human errors, and as gas is mostly colourless it is difficult to gauge a reaction changing the pressure, and if a substance is added to give the gas colour, it may influence the outcome of the experiment. Similarly the use of a catalyst complicates things, and if used incorrectly could alter the outcome of the experiment.
Aim: -
To see the effects of a change in temperature and concentration on the rate of a reaction. The reaction that will be used is:
Sodium Thiosulphate + Hydrochloric Acid
Na2S2O3 (aq) + 2HCl (aq)
Sodium Chloride + Water + Sulphur Dioxide +
2NaCl (aq) + H2O (l) + SO2 (g) +
Sulphur
S (s)
Two series of experiments will be carried out - one changing the temperature (while everything else remains constant) and one varying the concentration (while keeping everything else constant). Both the sodium thiosulphate and the Hydrochloric acid are soluble in water, so the concentration of either can be changed. However I have chosen to vary the sodium thiosulphate as it is available in larger amounts, and various ...
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Na2S2O3 (aq) + 2HCl (aq)
Sodium Chloride + Water + Sulphur Dioxide +
2NaCl (aq) + H2O (l) + SO2 (g) +
Sulphur
S (s)
Two series of experiments will be carried out - one changing the temperature (while everything else remains constant) and one varying the concentration (while keeping everything else constant). Both the sodium thiosulphate and the Hydrochloric acid are soluble in water, so the concentration of either can be changed. However I have chosen to vary the sodium thiosulphate as it is available in larger amounts, and various concentrations are prepared. When the temperature is constant room temperature will be used as the temperature as it more practical and will not need to be monitored. When the temperature is being varied a water bath will be used to heat up the acid and thiosulphate to the necessary temperature.
I decided which temperatures and concentrations to use during my preliminary series of experiments -
mol/dm3 of HCl (acid concentration will be fixed)
0-35g/dm3 of sodium thiosulphate (all of these concentrations will be tested in turn going up in steps of 5g/dm3)
20-70ºC temperature (all of these temperatures will be used going up in steps of 10ºC)
Concentrations of 5, and 40 g/dm3 of thiosulphate were available to me but my preliminary work showed that the 5 g/dm3 and 40g/dm3 were too slow and fast respectively in reacting to be worth testing. Similarly any temperature below 20ºC reacted too slowly, and 80ºC and 90ºC reacted too quickly to be worth including in my final results.
Using my preliminary experiments I decided on using the following apparatus:
thermometer
beaker
2 measuring cylinders
conical flask
tripod
gauze
heatproof mat
stopwatch
Bunsen burner
X board
pair of tongs
pair of goggles
apron
Method: -
Experiment 1 - Changing the concentration
5 cm3 of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm3 of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations - 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders and then poured into a conical flask, which is placed on top of a board marked with letter X. The stopwatch will now be started. When the mixture has turned sufficiently cloudy so that the letter X can no longer be seen the stopwatch will be stopped and the time will be recorded. The experiment is repeated with all the concentrations. The whole procedure is then repeated.
Experiment 2 - Changing the temperature
5 cm of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations - 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders. A beaker is half filled with hot water from a tap. The water is placed on top of a Bunsen on a blue flame and the two measuring placed inside the water bath. The water is heated to the necessary temperature (30ºC to 70ºC) then the two measuring cylinders are taken out and the contents of both are poured into a conical cylinder. The time it takes for the X to disappear is timed and recorded. The experiment is repeated using all the temperatures. The entire procedure is the repeated.
Repeat results and averages will be taken to improve the credibility of the findings, and present solid grounding for the final conclusion. The repeat results will help to iron out any anomalies and the average will give a good summary of the results of the experiment. However if one set of results is entirely different to the other, a third experiment will be performed to replace the anomalous set of results.
Safety - A pair of goggles will be worn during the heating part of the experiment in order to protect the eyes. An apron will also be worn to protect the skin and clothing. When handling hot beakers and measuring cylinders a pair of tongs will be used. A gauze and heatproof mat will be used while heating to avoid any damage to the equipment.
Fair Test - In order for my findings to be valid the experiment must be a fair one. I will use the same standard each time for judging when the X has disappeared. I will make sure that the measuring cylinders for the HCl and thiosulphate will not be mixed up. The amount of HCl will be 5 cm3 each time, and the amount of thiosulphate will be fixed at 15 cm3. During the heating stage of the experiment, a blue flame will be used throughout. Also the same Bunsen burner and gas tap will be used to maintain continuity. All of these precautions will make my final results more reliable and keep anomalies at a minimum so thus make the entire investigation more successful.
Prediction -
I predict that as the temperature is increased the rate of reaction will increase. I also predict that as the concentration of the sodium thiosulphate increases the rate of reaction will increase. This means that both graphs drawn up in my analysis will have positive correlation, and will probably be curved as the increase in rate of reaction will not be exactly the same as the concentration\temperature is increased. This can be justified by relating to the collision theory. When the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully. If solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. All this can be understood better with full understanding of the collision theory itself:
For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area.
Concentration - If the concentration of a solution is increased there are more reactant particles per unit volume. This increases the probability of reactant particles colliding with each other.
Pressure - If the pressure is increased the particles in the gas are pushed closer. This increases the concentration and thus the rate of reaction.
Surface Area - If a solid is powdered then there is a greater surface area available for a reaction, compared to the same mass of unpowdered solid. Only particles on the surface of the solid will be able to undergo collisions with the particles in a solution or gas.
The particles in a gas undergo random collisions in which energy is transferred between the colliding particles. As a result there will be particles with differing energies. Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution curves show the distribution of the energies of the particles in a gas.
The main points to note about the curves are:
. There are no particles with zero energy.
2. The curve does not touch the x-axis at the higher end, because there will always be some particles with very high energies.
3. The area under the curve is equal to the total number of particles in the system.
4. The peak of the curve indicates the most probable energy.
The activation energy for a given reaction can be marked on the distribution curve. Only particles with energy equal or greater than the activation energy can react when a collision occurs.
Although Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curves are for the particles in a gas, the same distributions can be used for the particles in a liquid or solid.
Effects of a temperature change - The graph below shows Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution graphs for a fixed mass of gas at two temperatures - T1 and T2, where T2 is roughly 10ºC higher than T1. The total area under the curve remains the same, since there is no change in the number of particles present.
A small increase in temperature causes significant changes to the distribution energies. At the higher temperature:
. The peak is at a higher energy.
2. The peak is lower.
3. The peak is broader.
4. There is a large increase in the number of particles with higher energies.
It is the final change that results increase in rate, even with a relatively small increase in temperature. A small increase in temperature greatly increases the number of particles with energy greater than the activation energy. The shaded areas on the energy distribution curves show this.
Effect of a catalyst - A catalyst works by providing an alternative reaction pathway that has lower activation energy. A catalyst does not alter the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Because a catalyst provides a reaction route of lower activation energy, however, a greater proportion of particles will have energy greater than the activation energy.
Secondary Sources Used:
AS Level Chemistry Textbook (kinetics module)
The Internet
Dr. Jones´s Chemistry Lessons
Information sheets from Dr. Jones
Obtaining Evidence
Temp.(ºC) Time 1 (s) Time 2 (s) Average (s)
20 110.67 107.42 109.045
30 100.13 103.34 101.735
40 64.20 65.92 65.06
50 45.34 37.73 41.535
60 30.12 33.18 31.65
70 18.92 16.34 17.63
Concen.(g/dm3) Time 1 (s) Time 2 (s) Average (s)
0 222.63 224.38 223.505
5 150.90 147.03 148.965
20 105.25 105.97 105.61
25 66.04 68.75 67.395
30 55.63 56.1 55.865
35 27.32 25.96 26.64
Temp.(ºC) Rate of Reaction 1(s-1) Rate of Reaction 2 (s-1) Average (s-1)
20 0.00904 0.00931 0.00917
30 0.00999 0.00968 0.00983
40 0.01558 0.01517 0.01537
50 0.02206 0.02650 0.02428
60 0.03320 0.03014 0.03167
70 0.05285 0.06120 0.05703
Concen.(g/dm3) Rate of Reaction 1(s-1) Rate of Reaction 2 (s-1) Average (s-1)
0.00000 0.00449 0.00446 0.00447
5.00000 0.00663 0.00680 0.00671
20.00000 0.00950 0.00944 0.00947
25.00000 0.01514 0.01455 0.01484
30.00000 0.01798 0.01783 0.01790
35.00000 0.03660 0.03852 0.03756
Temp.(ºC) Rate of Reaction 1(s) x1000 Rate of Reaction 2 (s) x1000 Average (s)
20 9.04 9.31 9.17
30 9.99 9.68 9.83
40 15.58 15.17 15.37
50 22.06 26.50 24.28
60 33.20 30.14 31.67
70 52.85 61.20 57.03
Concen.(g/dm) Rate of Reaction 1(s) x1000 Rate of Reaction 2 (s) x1000 Average (s)
0 4.49 4.46 4.47
5 6.63 6.80 6.71
20 9.50 9.44 9.47
25 15.14 14.55 14.84
30 17.98 17.83 17.90
35 36.60 38.52 37.56
Analysis
In this experiment I have found that as the temperature and concentration is increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. This means the rate of reaction increasers as it takes less time for a reaction to take place, so more take place per second. In the temperature experiment the time taken for a reaction to take place decreased by roughly 10 to 15 seconds for every 10ºC increase in temperature, with the one anomaly being the 30ºC reading. There is also a trend in the increase in rate of reaction as the temperature increases. The difference is always more or less 0.02 s-1, with the same exception.
Using the graphs, with lines of best fit, I can draw a conclusion from my experiment. Firstly I can see that with the "time" graphs (that plot temperature and concentration against time taken for the reaction to take place) the graphs have negative correlation in both cases, meaning that as the temperature\concentration increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. The time graph for the temperature experiment has a much steeper curve than the one for the concentration experiment, meaning that the decrease in time taken for the reaction was far more rapid.
Naturally, the above means that the both the graphs plotting rate against temperature and concentration have positive correlation - as the temperature and concentration are increased so does the rate of reaction. This is because when the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully, and when solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur.
The graph for concentration shows that when the concentrations were relatively low (10, 15, 20 g/dm3), the increase of rate x1000 was also fairly small (increasing from 4.47 to 6.71 to 9.47). There was then a gradual increase in the difference, and between 30 and 35 g/dm3 the rate more than doubled from 17.90 to 37.56s-1. This shows that there are far more collisions at a concentration of 35 g/dm3 than at 30 g/dm3.
The graph plotting time against the rate of reaction x1000 shows that the difference of rate between increasing temperatures (excluding the anomaly of 30ºC) was pretty much regular, increasing in steps of 6-10 (9.17 to 15.37 to 24.28 to 31.67). However, once again there is a giant gap in the last temperature increase - at 60ºC the RoR x1000 is 31.67 s-1, and at 70ºC it is 57.03 s-1.
For this to fully make sense it is necessary to recap the collision theory briefly:
For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area.
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