Joanna Ratigan Which material is the best insulator of heat?

Aim: To see which material, cotton, black paper, or aluminum foil insulates heat best. This will be done by wrapping different materials outside a glass beaker filled with boiling water to see which material will keep water hot the longest. Variables: Independent variable: the material Dependent variable: the heat lost over a period of time. Control: beaker with no surrounding material Background Information: Hot substances release infrared electromagnetic waves through radiation, which heat objects a distance away, and also losing energy in the process. Thicker and more dense materials make good thermal insulators. Material such as fiberglass is a very good thermal insulator due to its density, while something like drywall that is very thin will not keep heat in well. If a material is a poor conductor of heat, that means that it is a very good insulator. Good thermal insulators have tightly bound electrons, so it is difficult for anything to pass through the material, therefore it keeps heat inside well. They have a very high resistance to electrical currents. Insulating materials have a high specific heat capacity, meaning it takes a lot of energy to heat it up by 1C, so it prevents energy from easily passing through. Metals are the worst some of the worst insulators. Common examples of insulators are rubber, plastic, wood, and glass. Hypothesis - Prediction: I predict that aluminum foil will be the best insulator. Shiny surfaces are known to keep material hot for the longest time. Shiny material reflects radiation and therefore is the best insulator of heat. Materials: Four glass beakers Cotton t-shirt Black paper Aluminum foil Thermometer 225mL water for each beaker Timer Kettle Method: 1. Boil the water. 2. Wrap one beaker in cotton, one in paper, one in foil, and leave the last one open, making sure its the same thickness of material surrounding the beaker.

3. Pour 225 mL of water into each of the four beakers. The beginning water temperature is controlled at 80C. 4. Put a thermometer in each of the beakers and record the starting temperature, which is the same in every beaker. 5. Note the change in temperature in each beaker every minute for 10 minutes. Results Table Time (minutes) 0 1 2 3 4 5 Results Graph Control 80 77 75 73 71 70 Foil 80 78 76 75 74 72 Paper 80 77 75 74 72 70 Cotton 80 77 76 74 73 71

Analysis The graph clearly shows a difference in the heat loss over time. At the beginning of the experiment, all four beakers were at the same temperature. By the end of the five minutes, they were at different temperatures. This shows that the material surrounding the beaker affected the rate at which the water in the different beakers cooled. Out of the three materials, paper ended at the lowest temperature, so it is the worst insulator of heat. Cotton ended in between the paper and the foil, but it still cooled at a similar (though slightly faster) rate to the foil. The water in the beaker covered in foil stayed hot the longest, therefore it was the best insulator. The control ended at the lowest temperature out of the four, as it was an open beaker. The final temperature for each of the four beakers was within a range of 2C. Two beakers cooled by 10C in 5 minutes, one cooled by 9C, and the last cooled by 8C. Conclusion The data collected from my experiment showed that aluminum foil is the best insulator of heat. This result supports my hypothesis. The beaker covered in foil kept the water hot for the longest amount of time. At the end of the five minutes, and in each one-minute interval, the beaker with the foil had the highest temperature. In the experiment, paper proved to be a terrible insulator of heat, and cotton was fairly close to the foil in temperature for the majority of the experiment. The data supports my earlier hypothesis, which predicted that aluminum foil would be the best insulator of heat, and therefore keep the water hot for the longest amount of time. Evaluation My experiment could have been improved in a number of ways. I did not cover the top of the beaker, so heat could have been lost through there and affected my results. It was also difficult to control the temperature of the water at the beginning of the experiment. If I were to do this experiment again, I would have been more cautious to make sure there was no heat loss through other methods of thermal energy transfer. I also would have used a hot plate to heat the water instead of a kettle. A kettle simply boils the water. Using a hot plate to heat up the water would have made it easier to make the water hot and at a controlled temperature to start off with.

Bibliography
Conductors and Insulators. 11 September 2013 <http://www.ndted.org/EducationResources/HighSchool/Electricity/conductorsinsulators.htm >. How Insulation Prevents Heat Transfer. 12 September 2013 <http://www.lowes.com/cd_How+Insulation+Prevents+Heat+Transfer_974680 410_>. Thermal Insulation Keeps Heat from Escaping. 11 September 2103 <http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/thermal_insulation.htm>.