Science Smarts: Lock in that heat
By Patty Rooks on July 8, 2023.
I know many of you are on summer break right now, but making lunches each morning is still happening at my house! I do not know about you, but I continually struggle with how to keep what I pack into the lunch warm by lunch time… well, I guess I have to turn to science in order to help me with this dilemma. Let’s get started! *Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials – Thermometer – Three same size jars – Tape – Hot water – Timer – Piece of paper – Plastic wrap – Wool scarf (or similar) – Rubber band – Scientific notebook – Pencil Procedure 1. Wrap one layer of plastic film around jar #1. If it will not stay in place, secure it with a little bit of tape. 2. Repeat with jar #2 BUT place the scarf in ONE layer around it. You may need to hold it in place with a rubber band. 3. Place the piece of paper around jar #3 in ONE layer as well. Secure in place with a piece of tape. 4. Fill each bottle with hot water from the tap in your kitchen. 5. Take the temperature of each container of water and record this in your scientific notebook. 6. Set the timer for five minutes. 7. Record the temperature. 8. Repeat recording the temperature every five minutes for sixty minutes. 9. What happens? What is going on? In this experiment you were measuring heat loss. I chose these materials because they are easy to find and we should all have them in our house. Not to mention, many companies sell materials like these in order to keep food and drinks warm. For instance, have you ever had a cup of hot chocolate in a paper cup? I know I use a scarf in the winter to keep my neck warm. By using a variety of materials in this experiment, we were investigating what is the WORST insulating material. Were you able to come up with which material allowed the heat to escape allowing the water to cool down the fastest? I would love to hear what you think I should use in order to keep my lunch piping hot when it is time to eat! Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca. 31-30
