The document describes an experiment to test the insulating properties of different materials by measuring how quickly hot water cools when wrapped in tin foil, a plastic bag, newspaper, or a woolen sock. The student hypothesized that the woolen sock would keep the water warmest. They recorded the temperature of the water wrapped in each material after 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes, finding a 4 degree Celsius difference between the best and worst insulators after 30 minutes. Their results supported the hypothesis, with the woolen sock keeping the water warmest and newspaper the coolest.

1. By : Charlotte Griffin
Class G5R
February 2012

2. To test the difference in insulating properties
between different materials by seeing how well
they each stop a bottle of hot water from
cooling down over time.

3. I will use four materials in this experiment: tin
foil, a plastic bag, newspaper and a woollen
sock.
I think that the woollen sock will keep the
water warmer for longer than all the other
materials.

4.  Four identical plastic bottles
 Newspaper
 One woollen sock
 Tinfoil
 One plastic bag
 Thermometer
 Hot water
 Timer

5. 1.Wrap each plastic bottle in one of the four
materials: tinfoil, a plastic bag, newspaper and a
woollen sock.
2.Pour an equal amount of hot water into the
four insulated bottles.
3.Take the temperature of the water in each
bottle and record the data for Time Zero. Put
the caps back on the bottles.
4. Record the temperatures in the four bottles
again after 5, 10, 20 and 30 minutes, keeping
the caps on inbetween measurements.

7. 1. The temperatures in all four bottles
decrease over time as the water starts off
much hotter than room temperature.
2. After only 5 minutes it was not so easy to
tell the difference between the four bottles
but the results were clearer after 30
minutes.
3. There was a notable difference in
temperature of 4 Degrees Centigrade
between the bottles with the best insulating
material and the worst after 30 minutes.

8. 61
56
Temp / Deg C
Woolly Sock
Tin Foil
Plastic Bag
51
Newspaper
46
0 5 10 20 30
Time / Mins

9. In this experiment, you can see that water
cools at different rates when using different
materials for insulation.
My hypothesis was correct, the woollen
sock did keep the water warmer than the other
materials. The newspaper was the poorest
insulator.

10. Different materials have different insulating
characteristics, some are better than others at
keeping heat in or out.