Determining the Effectiveness of Insulators Aden Kahr 8B Science April 18th, 2012 Purpose and Hypothesis To determine whether

aluminum foil or wool cloth is a better insulator, we stuck test tubes of water with thermometers in ice, and timed their exposure in order to get their temperatures upon withdrawal, noting if the foil or cloth-wrapped test tube was warmest. I think that the foil will be the best insulator because it is made of aluminum, which is a conductor. Introduction When NASA was getting ready to put the Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon, they were also responsible for the safety of these astronauts. The task at hand was the manufacture of safe and reliable space suits that could protect astronauts from the harsh and cold conditions of the moon. NASA had to find a material that would reflect cold air on the moon back into space while maintaining homeostasis by trapping body heat. Materials 1 foil blanket 1 cloth blanket 3 thermometers 1 600 mL beaker 1 cup of ice 3 identical test tubes 2 rubber bands At least 100 ml of water 1 stopwatch

Procedure 1-Pour equal amounts of water into three test tubes 2-Measure the temperature of the water in 3 identical test tubes. They should be 35 degrees Celsius. If they are colder, warm them to 35 degrees. 3-Wrap one test tube in foil using a rubber band. Wrap the other test tube in wool cloth. Set the other test tube aside as your control. 4-Put all of the test tubes inside a 600ml beaker of ice and let them sit for 3 minutes. 5-Take them out and record their temperatures.

Results
Temperature of water in ice with different insulators

Control

Insulator Type (y) Wool cloth

after ice before ice

Aluminum foil
0 10 20 30 40

Temperature C (x)

Temperature of water in ice with different insulators Insulator type Original temp (C) Time in ice Temperature out of ice of water Aluminum cloth 35 C 3 min 1 C Wool cloth 35 C 3 min 12 C Control 35 C 3 min 0 C Conclusion The purpose of this lab was to test the effectiveness of certain insulators in a cold environment. In the experiment, we filled test tubes with water and warmed them to 35 C. We then wrapped one in aluminum foil and another in wool cloth. We left the third one without any insulator as our control. We put them all in ice for 3 minutes, and when they came out, we looked to see which test tube had the least dramatic temperature change. The independent variables were the insulator and time, and the dependent variable was the temperature. Our constant was the ice. We took them out and discovered that the foil wrapped test tube dropped 34. We then looked at the control and saw that it had a 35 drop. The cloth was the best, with its test tube having a 23 drop. My hypothesis was incorrect. I said that the foil would be the best insulator because it is a conductor. The data clearly shows that cloth is the best insulator. This does not apply to the moon because there is no heat to conduct. There were a couple of variables that could have changed the experiment. For one, the aluminum may not

have been wrapped as tightly as the cloth. The tip of the thermometer, which collects the temperature, was not covered in either insulator, giving us false data. If I were to do this experiment again, I would make sure that the foil and cloth were wrapped tightly on the tip of thermometer, and I would have warmed the thermometers to the actual temperature of the human body to get more realistic results.