Keabetswe Mojela and Katlego

Masilo

Section 2: The experiment and

results

marks
Method

1. Prepare an ice-water bath by adding the same amount of ice to a second Styrofoam cooler, then
covering the ice with water.

2. Use the instant read thermometer to measure the starting temperatures of:

o the freezer compartment,

o the refrigerator,

o the ice-only bath,

o the ice-water bath, and

o each room-temperature can of soda. You'll need to open the cans of soda to take the
temperature of the liquid inside. To minimize evaporation, cover the opening with a wad
of plastic wrap after taking the temperature.

In each case, make sure that the temperature has stabilized before recording the result. For
example, it may take a minute or two before the ice-water temperature reaches equilibrium when
the water is first added to the ice.

3. Place three cans of soda in each of the cooling devices to be tested, i.e.:

o The freezer compartment

o The refrigerator

o The ice-only bath

o The ice-water bath

4. Note the starting time for each cooling device.

5. At regular intervals (e.g., every 5 minutes), quickly remove each set of cans from their cooling
device and measure the temperature of the soda. Note the time and temperature reading, then
quickly put the cans back in the cooling device. Tips:

o Minimize the amount of time that the refrigerator and freezer doors are open.

o It is a good idea to periodically re-check the temperatures of the cooling devices.

6. The experiment is complete when the temperature reading of the soda stabilizes.

7. For each cooling device, calculate the average temperature of the three soda cans for each time
point.

8. Make a graph of the average temperature of the soda (y-axis) vs. elapsed time (in minutes) since
the beginning of the experiment. Use a different symbol and color for each cooling device.

9. Which cooling method worked the fastest?

Observation
We have found that the (salted) ice water bowl cooled the can of beverage
to a good drinking temperature of about 5 degrees after about 5- 6 minutes.
The can in the freezer should have only reached about 40 degrees or so ,it
needs a good 30 minutes to get cold .And that is because the salt cools
down the freezing point of the water in the bowl ,letting the ice in the ice
bowl to melt while still retaining its temperature. This makes the cold water
in the ice bowl even colder .The freezer, while it is pretty much cold, just
didn’t make the competition because cold air just isn’t enough to do the job
quickly. Water is a much better heat conductor than air, so heat is able to
leave the can more quickly in the ice bowl.
 Data Table

Method Test 1 Test 2

Freezer 20 Degrees(30 minutes min) 20 Degrees(30
minutes min)
W. Bowl 9 Degrees (7 minutes max) 5 Degrees (5
minutes max)

Graph

Experiment Graph
25.00

20.00
20 20

Test 1 15.00
Test 2

10.00
9

5.00
5

0.00
Freezer W. Bowl