The Radiant Water Heat Loss Experiment

This radiant water heat loss experiment tests the effect of two factors on heat loss. Those are the color of the vessel and the material surrounding it.

SAFETY NOTE: Because boiling water is used in this experiment, close parental supervision is strongly urged.

Materials Needed:

You will need the following:

* two aluminium drink cans
* black and white paint
* two thermometers
* a kettle for boiling water

Procedure:

Step 1: Paint one can white and the other can black, then let the paint dry.

Step 2: Fill each can with boiling water.

Step 3: Record the temperature of each can at one minute intervals for ten minutes, longer if you want. You can record the results in a table like this:

What Will Happen?

Just as black surfaces absorb heat more quickly as shown in this project for science, they also lose it more quickly.

Why?

If an object is hotter than its surroundings it will lose energy by radiating it in the form of infra red radiation. Dull black surfaces are the best radiators of heat just as they are the best absorbers of heat. They are in effect the surfaces through which energy passes the easiest.

Possible Extensions:

The results from this experiment could be graphed in a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or the like.

Another similar experiment would be to take one of the cans and wrap it in an insulating material such as foam or bubble wrap, then run the trial again. This would be testing for the effect of insulation against non - insulation, and the results could be combined with those from the first experiment on the same data table.

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