Renewable energy · Applied
Hold the heat
Keep captured solar heat from escaping.
Read the instructions without joining. A signed-in profile lets you save private observations and learning progress.
Before you begin
Gather your supplies
- Two identical covered containers
- Equal amounts of warm water
- Safe reused insulating material, thermometer and timer
Use what you have. Purchases are optional and do not affect learning rewards.
Care and safety
Use warm, not boiling, water. Keep fabric and cardboard away from flames, hot plates and electrical hazards.
Prerequisite
This activity builds on Catch the sun. Read it first and use your earlier observations when working through this activity.
The experiment
Insulation slows heat transfer. Comparing temperature change, rather than final temperature alone, accounts for small differences at the start.
- Use what Catch the Sun taught you to warm equal water volumes safely. Record each starting temperature.
- Wrap only container A with dry reused material such as clean cloth or corrugated cardboard. Keep container B unwrapped.
- Measure both at 0, 15 and 30 minutes in the same location. Do not open the containers longer than needed.
- Subtract each final temperature from its own starting temperature. Explain which design slowed heat loss and what you would change.
Background reference: U.S. Department of Energy Building Science Education
These instructions are a suggested learning experiment from Seth The Evil. The reference explains the background; it does not certify this experiment or guarantee a result.
Opening the workspace does not start an activity or save a record. You choose when to start and what observations to save.