What makes a good insulator and why?

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Insulation Coursework

What makes a good insulator and why?

Design an experiment to show which materials are good insulators

Experiment

I am going to conduct an experiment to find out what materials are the best conductors by heating a certain amount of water to a certain and controlled temperature with a kettle and measure the temperature with a thermometer, I will use the same temperature and amount of water with each test, I will then put that heated water into a copper pot, this I will also keep the same, the copper pot will then have a cork with a small hole in, for the thermometer, placed into the copper pot, the temperature will then be taken every minute till a certain limit. The results will then be compared with various covers as well as a copper pot without insulation, this will then help to tell me what materials make good insulators. To keep this experiment a fair test I will always keep the following the same after I have found ideal figures with my preliminary work:-

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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

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