Factors Affecting Heat Loss.

  Non-metals such as plastic, wood and rubber etc are very good insulators. All metals are good conductors due to their free electrons. Metals conduct so well because the electrons inside the metal are free to move. Te electrons on the end move faster and diffuse quickly through the metal. Electrons carry the energy quite a long way before giving it up in a collision. This is a quicker way of transferring energy through the metal letting it slowly pass, by atoms to other atoms. This is why atoms travel so fast through metals. Metals always feel hotter or colder because it conducts very well.  

Convection:

Gasses and liquids are usually free to move about and this allows them to transfer heat by convection, which is better than more effective processing than conduction. Convection of heat is in liquids and gases only. Convection cannot happen in solids because particles can’t move about. Convection occurs when the more energetic particles move from the hotter region to the cooler region and take the energy with them. When the more energetic energy gets transferred in the usual process of collision, which warm up the surroundings.  

Aim:

Our aim is to find out if different colours and materials affect heat loss in radiation.

Prediction:

I predict that light colours and shiny materials will keep heat in longer and dark matt surfaces will absorb the heat but won’t reflect it.

Apparatus

5 glass beakers

Black Sugar Paper

White Paper

Aluminium Foil (Both matt side and shiny side will be used)

Corrugated Cardboard

Measuring Cylinder

Stop Clock

Thermometer

Method

Firstly we collected out apparatus and covered it in the different materials, and made lids for them. Them we boiled the water and when it had been boiled we poured 100 cubic centimetres in the measuring cylinder and then poured it into the beaker and put the lid on and inserted the thermometer.  Then we got our stop clock and measured every minute what the temperature was, and we did that for 15 minutes. We did that experiment three times on each material.

Results

White paper

Corrugated Card

Black Paper

Foil Matt

Foil Shiny

Observation

While the experiment, was taking place, I saw that as soon as I placed the thermometer into the beaker, the temperature shot up immediately, and it gradually came down.  

Analysis

Conclusion:

I knew that the dark matt materials would lose the heat radiation very slowly and it would reflect the light. Shiny and matt aluminium foil both lost the same amount of hat radiation in the time of 15 minutes. The black material was the worst at reflecting radiation but the best at absorbing the heat radiation. The white paper was quite good at reflecting the heat but quite poor at losing the heat. The corrugated card was bad at reflecting the heat but quite good at absorbing it.

Evaluation:

I performed my experiment very well by making it as fair as I could by putting exactly 100 cubic centimetres in each cylinder. I can improve it by using a variety of different materials to get a wider range of results.

  My prediction was correct as the materials that i said was emit and absorb heat were correct. The black and matt surfaces were bad reflectors but good absorbers; where as the glossy bright colours were good at reflecting but poor at absorbing.

  I could improve my experiment next time by making I a fairer test by being more accurate and precise, and making that the water entered all the beakers at the same time. I cold also make it fairer by doing the whole experiment in one day, including different variations and repeating it three times.