Investigatory Project - Ice Insulation

Abstract
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer between objects in
thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat transfer is the
transfer of thermal energy between objects of different temperature.
Heat flow is an inevitable consequence of contact between objects of
different temperature. Heat flows by means of conduction or convection.
Thermal insulation provides a means to maintain a gradient of temperature,
by providing a region of insulation in which heat flow is reduced or thermal
radiation is reflected rather than absorbed.
This study is aimed upon identifying the best alternative insulator that can
be used in ice plants and in everyday living. Some materials are better
insulators than others, so the researcher used five different materials in
conducting the insulation test and these were grocery bag, dry leaves, egg
carton, feathers, and sand. The duration of time for each ice cube to melt
was recorded to identify the best insulator from commonly found materials
at home. Plastics used in ice plants were compared to other insulating
materials in this study. Aside from the time consumed in melting ice cubes
by each material, the researcher also computed for the total and average
time consumed by each insulator in melting an ice cube.
I. Introduction
Background of the Study
Heat is a form of thermal energy and results from the motion of atoms and
molecules. Warm objects have a greater amount of thermal energy than
cooler objects. Cold can be described as the absence of heat (less thermal
energy). Heat will flow from areas of high thermal energy towards areas of
low thermal energy. An ice cube melts as heat flows towards the ice from
its surroundings. Therefore, using insulators can be a great idea to prevent
the melting of ice.

Materials that do not conduct heat easily are called insulators. Insulators
are designed in such a way that there is no flow of heat either from within to
the surrounding or vice versa. It slows down the conduction of heat
between two objects of different temperatures. It can be in contact with an
object, and it can also act to reduce the effect of convection currents.
Normally, the best place to keep an ice cube from melting is the freezer.
However, it is sometimes necessary to transfer ice from one place to
another when lugging your freezer with you is not an option.
Coolers and ice buckets use the principle of insulators and thus, can be
highly helpful in keeping the ice solid for a long time. There are certain
materials that can be used to insulate ice that work better than others
although nothing works for an extended period of time. Some materials that
can be used as insulators are feathers, leaves, sand, egg cartons, grocery
bags and other materials that trap pockets of air.
On the other hand, history says that ice was harvested and stored in China
before the first millennium. Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans placed large
amounts of snow into storage pits and covered this cooling agent with
insulating material.
One of the oldest ways to insulate ice is to coat it with layers of sawdust.
This method was used in ice houses and even in ice boxes as recently as
the early 1900s. Ice that was brought into an ice house could be kept cold
and insulated well into the summer by making sure it was laid aside and
properly coated with sawdust. A sheet or some other material would be
placed between the ice and the sawdust, so that the ice could still be used
to keep food and drink cold without contamination.
Nowadays, aside from rice husks which are being used by some ice plants
and dealers in some provinces like Bulacan and Batangas, plastic is also
used as an insulator by ice plants and ice dealers. Plastic doesn't conduct
heat very well, making it useful for keeping things cold. Plastic takes in a
rather broad spectrum. It is a medium to a poor conductor of heat. Plastic
that has closed cell air bubbles like a coffee cup acts as an excellent
insulator; however, it is the air pockets that make it effective. Plastics can
also be used on cookware to give an insulated handle. Knowing these uses
can only tell why plastics are good insulators.

Statement of the Problem

The researcher conducted this study to answer the following questions:
1. What materials can be used as insulators for ice?
2. Which material is the best insulator for ice?
3. How much time is consumed for the ice cube to melt using each kind of
insulator?
The objectives of this study are as follows:
* To be able to use different materials that can insulate ice
* To be able to determine which of the materials can best insulate ice
* To be able to determine and compare the duration of time consumed after
each ice cube melted
Significance of the Study
The use of an insulator slows down the melting of ice. The researcher
would like the readers to understand the significance of energy retention
and insulation with regards to energy conservation. The researcher would
also like to find the best alternative insulator for ice which can be used
commercially in ice plants.
Limitation of the Study
This study is limited only to finding out the insulating capacity of different
materials such as sand, egg cartons, dry leaves, feathers, grocery bag, and
plastic. The researcher did not have difficulty in finding the insulating
materials because they are readily available in the researchers home.
Most of them are from natural sources and recycled materials.
Definition of Terms
conduction (noun) - the transfer of heat between solids
convection (noun) - the flow of heat between liquids and gases

insulator (thermal) (noun) - an object which reduces heat transfer between

objects in thermal contact
lugging (verb) - to pull or drag
retention (noun) - the condition of keeping something; withholding
rice husk (noun) - the casing that covers a rice grain
pit (noun) - a natural or artificial hole or cavity in the ground
sawdust (noun) - The small particles of wood or other material that fall from
an object being sawed.
thermal (adjective) - relating to or associated with heat
II.Review of Related Literature
A. Ice Houses of Pradelles Cabardes (a little village in
France)
In the autumn the women collected beech leaves to use as insulation which
were stored in a small building.
During the winter the most compacted snow drifts were chosen and the
snow put into the pit and compacted down as much as possible. When full,
it was all covered with a 1 - 1.5 m layer of beech leaves, and the ice house
was closed till the summer.
When ice was needed, the leaves were removed in the early morning and
the ice scraped out to be formed into cylinders of 50 kg, sometimes 1 or 1.5
kg, by compacting into moulds. The ice "balls" were then laid on a sack of
beech leaves back in the ice house till the evening.
B. Test Feathers as a Source of Insulation
In this experiment from The Biology Corner, kids will test the insulation of
feathers against some other materials. You'll have kids fill a glass with
water and place the glass in the center of a bowl.

Experiment with various means of insulation, such as cotton fabric,

feathers, paper, and other materials by wrapping the items around the
glass and covering the outside completely (one material at a time). To do
this, you'll remove the glass and wrap the material around it. You can then
wrap the whole glass -- insulation included -- in plastic wrap both to hold
the material in place and to protect the material from the ice. Observe how
quickly the water temperature rises when the glass is insulated and see
how the feathers compare to the other materials.
III. Methodology
Materials:
* 6 plastic containers with cover
* 6 styro cups
* 6 ice cubes of the same size
* dry leaves
* sand
* feathers
* egg carton
* grocery bag
* plastic
* watch
Procedure:
1. Prepare 6 plastic containers.
2. Insert a styro cup in each plastic container.
3. Place the insulation material in the space between the styro cup and
plastic container including the space underneath the cup.

4. Put an ice cube in each styro cup and put the cover of the container.
5. Observe which of the insulation materials melted the ice cube the
longest.
6. Record the time when each ice cube melted.
8
The materials used by the researcher.
The researcher in an ice storage.
9
IV. Results and Discussion
The researcher used plastic as the control variable and compared it with
the insulating capacity of five different materials namely egg carton, grocery
bag, feathers, dry leaves and sand on ice cubes.
He conducted five trials and produced the following results:
Trial 1
Insulator | Time Consumed in Melting (hours:minutes) |
*plastic (control variable) | 1:32 |
1.egg carton | 1:35 |
2.grocery bag | 1:19 |
3.feathers | 1:16 |
4.dry leaves | 1:13 |
5.sand | 0:55 |
In the 1st trial, egg carton had the longest time to melt an ice cube followed
by grocery bag, feathers, dry leaves and sand. Egg carton even melted
longer than the control variable while sand had the shortest time to melt an
ice cube.

Trial 2
Insulator | Time Consumed in Melting (hours:minutes) |
*plastic (control variable) | 1:36 |
1.dry leaves | 1:40 |
2.feathers | 1:24 |
3.egg carton | 1:22 |
4.sand | 1:15 |
5.grocery bag | 1:10 |
In the 2nd trial, dry leaves had the longest time to melt an ice cube followed
by feathers, egg carton, sand, and grocery bag. Dry leaves also melted
longer than the control variable while grocery bag had the shortest time to
melt an ice cube.
Trial 3
Insulator | Time Consumed in Melting (hours:minutes) |
*plastic (control variable) | 1:34 |
1.grocery bag | 1:33 |
2.dry leaves | 1:29 |
3.egg carton | 1:20 |
4.feathers | 1:18 |
5.sand | 1:04 |
In the 3rd trial, grocery bag had the longest time to melt an ice cube
followed by dry leaves, egg carton, feathers and sand. This time, the
control variable had the longest time to melt the ice cube while sand had
the shortest time.

Trial 4
Insulator | Time Consumed in Melting (hours:minutes) |
*plastic (control variable) | 1:34 |
1.dry leaves | 1:35 |
2.grocery bag | 1:32 |
3.egg carton | 1:22 |
4.feathers | 1:20 |
5.sand | 1:01 |
In the 4th trial, dry leaves had the longest time to melt an ice cube followed
by grocery bag, egg carton, feathers and sand. Dry leaves once again had
melted the ice cube longer than the control variable while sand had again
the shortest time to melt the ice cube.
Trial 5
Insulator | Time Consumed in Melting (hours:minutes) |
*plastic (control variable) | 1:34 |
1.dry leaves | 1:26 |
2.feathers | 1:22 |
3.grocery bag | 1:20 |
4.egg carton | 1:11 |
5.sand | 0:54 |
In the 5th trial, dry leaves had the longest time to melt an ice cube followed
by feathers, grocery bag, egg carton and sand. Plastic melted the ice cube
longer than dry leaves while sand had the shortest time to melt an ice cube.

Summary of Trials
Insulator | Total Time Consumed in Melting (hours:minutes) | Average Time
Consumed in Melting | Ranking from Longest Time to Shortest Time |
*plastic (control variable) | 7:83 | 1:57 | - |
dry leaves | 7:38 | 1:48 | 1 |
grocery bag | 6:90 | 1:38 | 2 |
egg carton | 6:83 | 1:37 | 3 |
feathers | 6:67 | 1:33 | 4 |
sand | 5:15 | 1:03 | 5 |
The researcher computed for the total time consumed in melting an ice
cube and the average time consumed in melting an ice cube by each
insulator to be able to identify which of these materials is the best
alternative insulator for ice. In the result, dry leaves had the longest time
consumed in melting an ice cube.
V. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
Summary
The researcher conducted five trials and tested five different insulating
materials like grocery bag, dry leaves, egg carton, feathers and sand on
cubes of ice. He compared the time consumed in melting an ice cube by
each insulating material. Plastic, which is used by ice plant and ice dealers
served as the control variable in this study. Among the five insulating
materials, dry leaves had the longest time consumed in melting an ice
cube.
Conclusion
The use of dry leaves as an insulating material was found to be effective in
slowing down the melting of ice cubes. Dry leaves had melted the ice cube
with the longest time compared with other insulating materials namely
grocery bag, egg carton, feathers and sand.

Recommendation
The researcher likes to recommend dry leaves as an alternative insulator
for ice.Dry leaves can be used commercially by ice plants and ice dealers
without spending too much because this insulator comes from a natural
source.