Factors affecting the rate of cooling

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 Science Coursework

Factors affecting the rate of cooling

Aim: To investigate and acknowledge factors of heat loss efficiency, radiation.

Introduction:  The experiment will take place with three conical flasks with the same amount of water in each flask. The three flasks will be different colours, which are black, silver and a clear glass. The experiment will be carried out twice, in one case the factors affecting the rate of cooling will be experimented in the lab and in the other case the factors affecting the rate of cooling will be experimented on the data logging, produced as a graph.  

 Scientific Knowledge: Loss of heat travels in three different ways. These are conduction, convection and radiation.

Conduction is when something is heated and the heat energy causes molecules at the heated end to vibrate violently and the vibrating molecules cause nearby molecules to vibrate as well. In this way heat travels slowly through solids. Metals are good conductors of heat, because there molecules are tightly packed together, where as plastic is a bad conductor of heat, because its molecules are not tightly packed together.

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Convection is when heat fluids expand and so become less dense. As a result, heat fluids, rise and cooler fluids fall to take their place. Boiling water is a typical example of this. Convection is also the transfer of heat, within a fluid, by the circulation of the fluid due to temperature differences. The currents of moving molecules are called convection currents. Convection occurs in fluids because the molecules in solids are not free to move. Heat travels through the air by convection. If the heat is allowed to do these things then the liquid is bound to cool ...

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