Heat transfer project 3/3/17

http://www.konbini.com/us/wp-content/blogs.dir/9/files/2015/12/A-cup-displaying-the-Starbucks-Coffee-logo.jpg

Mackenzie, Annie, Nic

Our cup is designed to keep 250 ml of water hot for a half hour. The items we used were plastic, styrofoam, wool and duct tape. All of these items are good thermal insulators:

• Plastic makes a good insulator because it does not have free electrons within their structure. Free electrons are electrons that are unbound within the atomic or molecular matrix.
• Styrofoam is a good insulator because the plastic foam contains billions of trapped gas bubbles. Gases hinder heat conduction because their molecules are very far apart, make it difficult for the molecules to collide.

• Wool is a good thermal insulator because the fibers trap in air and air is a good insulator because it doesn’t allow heat to transfer through it very easily.

• Duct tape is a good insulator because it is made of rubber and the rubber is a good thermal insulator because it prevents electrons from coming through.

As you can see, all of these materials are extremely good materials. This is why we decided to use them.

S&EP: Sp2

We have to build a cup that will keep in heat so that Ms. Garcia's coffee will still be at a comfortable temperature by the time she gets from the Starbucks to the school.