Investigation of the Cooling of a Liquid in Cups with Different Materials

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Investigation of the Cooling of a Liquid in Cups with Different Materials

Aim: To investigate how a liquid cools down in cups with different

materials.

Prediction: The factors which will affect the amount of heat loss are:

§ Material of the cup – Conduction

§ Colour – Radiation

§ Surface area of cup

§ Amount of water (surface area:volume ratio)

§ If the cup has a lid or not – Convection and Evaporation

§ Room temperature

§ Thickness of the cup

§ Temperature of the liquid

§ Air movements – Convection/Evaporation

I will be investigating the material of the cup. I experimented with

four cups. These are metal, polystyrene, ceramic and plastic cups. I

predict that the metal cup will cool down the quickest and the

polystyrene cup will cool down the slowest. I think the ceramic cup

will cool down second slowest and the plastic cup will cool second

fastest.

Reasons: I think that the metal cup will cool down the quickest

because metal is a good conductor. This will mean the metal will

conduct the heat from the water to the outside surface of the metal

and from that point the heat evaporates and goes into the air. I think

that the polystyrene cup will cool down the slowest because it has

pockets of air and air is a good insulator. This will mean that the

heat will stay in the cup and can only escape by rising to the surface

of the water using convection and then it goes by evaporating. I think

the ceramic cup will cool down second slowest because it has some air

particles in it but not as much as the polystyrene cup so it will cool

down a little faster than the polystyrene cup. I think the plastic cup

will cool down second fastest because plastic is a better conductor

than ceramic and polystyrene but not as good as metal.

[IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE]Diagram: Metal Cup

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