The same amount of water
The same temperature of water
The same copper pot
The same cork lid
In an ideal experiment, the same thermometer, room temperature and stop watch would also be used, but to keep these the same would be impractical.
One of the best insulators known is air, knowing this will help me make a choice later when it comes to picking a material.
Equipment
Kettle
Copper Pot
Cork
Thermometer
Measuring Cylinder
Stop Clock
Various Materials (Bubble Wrap, Corrugated Card, Paper etc.)
Safety
Make sure that the copper pot is in its final position before putting hot water in as moving it after may cause a burn.
Do not overfill the copper pot, and keep into account that the cork lid will expel water.
Place the copper pot on a sensible surface such as a heat proof mat.
Choices of Insulators:-
Aluminum foil
Green bubble wrap
See-through bubble wrap
Paper
Cardboard
Fiber
Preliminary Work
I conducted preliminary work to find out the values of the variables I wish to use e.g. Water amount/start temperature etc.
Preliminary Experiments
50ml of Water at 65*C in a small copper container, no insulation
Time has now been limited to 10 minutes as onwards of that point shows little activity
30ml of water at 65*C in a small copper container, no insulation
80ml of water at 75*C in a small copper container, no insulation
Experiment
50ml of water at 75*C in a small copper container, no insulation
From the preliminary results I have chosen to use 50ml of water at 75*c due to a reasonable range with green bubble wrap as insulation
50ml of water at 75*c, green bubble wrap as insulation
50ml of water at 75*c, Black shiny sided bubble wrap
50ml of water at 75*c Green carpet
Evaluation
I found some quite unexpected results from the experiment; the un-insulated pot actually maintained heat longer than the insulated pots, this could have occurred for several different reasons:-
- The water start temperature may have been recorded improperly.
- The thermometer used may have been different than the one used with the insulated pots, this may have caused the problem.
- The copper pot may have been different
- The lid may not have been fit properly/ amount of time the thermometer was absent from the hole
- The water inside of the pot in the original experiment might not have been stirred, as the temperature will have differed in different places
- The room temperature may have been different than, this is likely to have caused the difference.
- The copper pot may have been colder/warmer than usual to start
- Or a mixture of all of these.
The eye level may not have been level with the meniscus of the thermometer and/or the measuring cylinder, this is vitally important as the temperature may have been read up to 2-3 *c wrong, and the measuring cylinder perhaps 3-4ml out, this may not sound like a dramatic difference, but together, they may have caused the results.
This is why it would have been important to conduct all of the experiments on the same day with the exact same equipment while giving time for the pots to cool.