Bubble wrap stops heat escaping as it has trapped small pockets that have trapped air inside them and air is a poor conductor of heat so conduction is prevented. There some loss of heat with radiation as there is no colour.
Wool has tiny pockets of air in between the fibres and air is an excellent insulator of heat so conduction is stopped, again air is trapped unable to escape so ho heat loss is reduced by convection. It is not changed through radiation, as it is nether black or white so I can’t absorb or reflect heat.
Carpet underlay stops heat escaping as it has trapped air in its pockets and air is a poor conductor of so conduction is stopped. And convection is reduced because the air is trapped and cannot go anywhere so it circulates.
Polystyrene stops heat escaping as it has trapped air in its pockets and air is a poor conductor of heat so conduction is reduced. Convection is stopped because the air can’t escape so it circulates.
Curtain material stops conduction as it has small pockets of air and air is a bad conductor of heat. The air is trapped and cannot escape so convection is stopped. Its white on the inside so radiation reflects the heat back in but on the outside it is a different colour so no heat is reflected or absorbed.
Prediction
My prediction for the best insulator is polystyrene because it reduces heat be conduction, convection and radiation. In conduction there is trapped air and air is a poor conductor of heat so conduction is reduced. With the air trapped inside and unable to escape so it has to circulate so three is a reduction of convection. The outer colour of the polystyrene is white so is the inside, it reflects heat from the inside back in but it also reflect heat out from the outside.
Plan
Equipment list
- Aluminium can
- Water
- Water measurer
- Kettle
- Elastic band
- Card board box
- Thermometer
- Stopwatch
- Wrap the material around the can
- Put an elastic band around the can
- Eat water with a kettle until boiling temperature
- Pour the water in the can using the measuring cylinder, fill it until
220 ml and then start the clock from 0
Control
The control is to compare two sets of results, and find out what the differences are between the two. This then will be used to find out the average
Fair testing
The variables that are kept the same are
The water should always be at the same level and the same amount of water should be used
The water should be at the same temperature
It should be recorded every one minute for the same fifteen minutes.
Variables that are changed
The room temperature changes gradually
Materials overlapping
Results
In the first set of results I measured the temperature every one minute for fifteen minutes starting from 0.
In the second set of results I did basically the same thing as the first but in this one I made sure that everything was right and that I didn’t hurry it like the first one.
Averages
Conclusion
My results (averages) clearly state that Bubble wrap was the best insulator of heat. This was not my prediction as I predicted that the polystyrene would have been the best material but according to my results it was the second best insulator and it was bubble wrap that was the best. I have come to this conclusion through my averages as it states that bubble wrap has the lowest average temperature (15) therefore it is the best insulator of heat.
The most inefficient material was the carpet; this material has the highest average temperature (20) so it is the worst insulator of heat. I predicted the polystyrene so my prediction was wrong.
Evaluation
My evaluation is that I could have done a couple of things that would have improved my results, these include: I could have made the material smaller so it would not overlap. If I had stirred the water every minute and so on for 15 minutes, the parts that heat has not reached would have spread making it so that the temperature reached all of the water and inside the can. The result would mean that there would be an increase in conduction making it more efficient. If I secured the lid on tighter as there was a gap while I was doing the experiments no heat would have been lost through convection
