Holding in Heat

Clara, Kate, Ella & Saige

Testing how different materials act as insulation to hold the most heat in a cup of water..

Abstract- Kate
Our lab report consists of the details and perspective that went into our experiment. We
decided to do, what material holds heat for the longest at the warmest temperature. We
each researched different sides that could benefit the outcome. We each chose a question
to research, then added what we learned into a working hypothesis. We hypothesised that
the flannel would hold the most heat. After our hypothesis was complete, we conducted
our experiment. Our hypothesis was right! The flannel held the most heat because as
Clara said it was designed with a purpose.

Introduction- Ella
Winter survival. Whether or not you make it out alive can depend completely on what you
surround yourself in to keep warm. Our group wanted to test insulators that could be used
to build a shelter. To test this we make a simulation of three different surroundings: snow,
fabric and nothing. We set up boxes with these materials and a cup of water that would
be tested for the temperature. We then used the fluctuation of the waters temp to decide
what would preform as the best insulation, in this case we predicted the flannel would
work best.

Question- Ella & Saige

How does changing materials affect the ability of a shelter to hold heat?

Hypothesis- Clara
If the material affects the water temperature then the man made flannel will work the
best because it has engineering and purpose.

Methods & Materials - Clara

If you would like to recreate this experiment, the materials you will need are:
1. 3 plastic bins the same size
2. 3 dixie cups same color and same size
3. 2 different types of insulation
a. Made made material - Flannel
b. Natural material - Snow
4. A C/F thermometer
 Make sure to have the boxes of insulation in a spot
that has equal amount of shade and sun so that will
not change the outcome of your data. Notice how in
Figure 1, our buckets and cups are the same size. The
insulation was packed into the bins to make sure
emptiness of the bucket wouldnt affect the water
changing. Also check the starting temperature of the
water to have consistency. Once we set up the
experiment, we placed the lids on the containers and
tested the water and air temperature every 30
minutes.
Figure 1

Results *all data tested and entered by Ella*

OUR DATA - Day one

30 milliliters of water
Data taken every 30 minutes
Measured in fahrenheit

STARTING TEMP OF WATER: 6 1 degrees - taken at 8:47

STARTING TEMP OF AIR: UNKNOWN

TEST ONE - Taken at 9:17

Flannel - 37.2
None - 32.4
Snow - 28.9
Outside temperature: UNKNOWN

TEST TWO - Taken at 9:47

Flannel - 40.6
None - 31.8
Snow - 31.6
Outside temperature: 31

TEST THREE - Taken at 10:17

Flannel - 41.7
None - 33.1
Snow - 31.3
Outside temperature: 33

TEST FOUR - Taken at 10:47

Flannel - 41.4
None - 33.1
Snow - 29.6
Outside temperature: 37

OUR DATA - Day two

30 milliliters of water
Data taken every 30 minutes
Measured in fahrenheit

STARTING TEMP OF WATER: 4 9 degrees - taken at 8:50

STARTING TEMP OF AIR: 24 degrees - taken at 8:50

TEST ONE - Taken at 9:20

Flannel - 45
None - 35
Snow - 31
Outside temperature: 25

TEST TWO - Taken at 9:50

Flannel - 41
None - 33
Snow - 31
Outside temperature: 30

TEST THREE - Taken at 10:20

Flannel - 37
None - 33
Snow - 33
Outside temperature: 35
TEST FOUR - Taken at 10:50
Flannel - 38
None - 32
Snow - 37
7
Outside temperature: 3

Discussion- Clara & Ella

Overall the man made material made the best insulation. As seen in the data, the
flannel kept the water warmest and at times even warmed the water up. This proved our
hypothesis right because the flannel was built to hold in the heat with its thick, fluffy
material.

However our data technically isn't accurate in the tests of Day One. One day one
we made the mistake of putting the boxes in a place where it would be shaded part of the
day and in the sun for the other half. This caused the water temperatures to change
because of other reasons besides the insulation, adding an extra unneeded variable.
There we also moments where other groups second period placed their
jackets on top of our boxes adding extra insulation, again, messing with our data. The
third reason the Day One tests were not totally correct was in the beginning we failed to
collect the temp of the air. When testing on day two, we made sure to fix these problems.

Our results show that the man made material is most effective of creating heat in
61 water. We are confident that these results are correct because we did the experiment
two times. The first time we recognized our flaws in the procedure and got to fix our
mistakes on the second try. We can can use the knowledge we gained through our
experiment in day to day occurrences and possibly even in survival situations.

Bibliography- Clara

These sources were used for our background research science we slightly altered our
experiment, so this information doesnt apply to our new experiment:
http://tacticalintelligence.net/blog/building-a-debris-hut.htm
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-density-d_40.html
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/EarthTemperatures.htm
http://www.survivalschool.us/debris-shelter/