Pass the Heat

Introduction
Early in life we acquire a working knowledge of how heat is transferred. We
know that a spoon gets hot when placed in a cup of hot coffee. We trust that cloth
or paper may be safely used to pick up warm metals and that the wooden handles
of pot lids and kettles does not hot enough to burn us. Convection has been man’s
chief method of distributing heat energy from fire. Water in a kettle is heated by
convection currents. Convection currents in the atmosphere result in wind. Heat
from the sun reaches us by radiation. We wear light- colored clothes during the hot
summer months but dark ones during the cold months.
There are three ways by which heat is transferred from warmer objects to
cooler ones. These are conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction is heat
transfer by molecular collision. Convection transfers heat by the actual motion of
the heated fluid. Conduction is the main mode of heat transfer for solids, while
convection is the mode for the fluids. Radiation is heat transfer by electromagnetic
waves.

The three modes of heat transfer

Objective
Investigate the different methods of heat transfer.
Materials
a large Pyrex test tube thermometers
steel wool ice cubes
stop watch food dye (blue and yellow)
2 cans (one painted black) small index card
2 empty soft drink bottles ( glass or plastic ) beaker
Bunsen burner ice water
test-tube holder
Estimated Time Frame
1 hour and 30 minutes
Procedure
A. Conduction
1. Select six objects made of different materials inside the laboratory.
2. Hold them next to your cheek. Since they are all inside the
laboratory, they must be at the same temperature. What do you
feel?
3. Rank the materials of which the objects are made of according to
their thermal conductivities, with 1 as the highest thermal
conductivity. Write your answers in part A of Data and Results on
page 139.

B. Conductivity of Water
1. Put a few pieces of ice in a large Pyrex test tube.
2. Put a coil of wire or a small piece of steel wool on top of the ice.
3. Fill the test tube with water until it is nearly full.
4. Slant the tube and heat it carefully near the top until the water
boils.
5. Record in part B the time it takes for the ice to melt.
6. Repeat steps 1 to 4 but this time heat the tube near the bottom.
7. Compare the two time elements obtained. What does this tell you
about the thermal conductivity of water?

Setup for procedure B

C. Convection
1. Put some water in a beaker and heat it until 45 . Add blue food dye.
Fill a bottle to the brim with this blue warm water.
2. Add the yellow food dye to the ice water. Fill the other bottle to the
brim with ice water.
 3. Place the index card over the mouth of the warm water bottle. Turn it
upside down, holding the index card as firmly as possible. Rest it on top
of the ice water bottle so that they are positioned mouth-to-mouth, with
the card separating them.
4. Carefully slip the card out from in between the two bottles. Make sure
that you are holding onto the top bottle when you remove the card.
Observe what happens to the colored liquids in the two bottles.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3, but this time place the bottle of cold water on top
of the warm water. Observe what happens.
6. Record observations in part C of Data and Results on page 139.
D. Radiation
1. Boil some water in a beaker. Pour equal amounts of boiling water into
the two identical metal containers but one having a polished surface and the other a
blackened surface.
2. After ten minutes, take their temperatures. Which one cools first?
3. Replace the boiling water with ice-cold water.
4. After ten minutes, take their temperatures. Which one warms up faster?
5. Record observations in part D of Data and Results on page 139.
Our Lady of the Pillar Academy
S, Y, 2009-2010

Submitted by:
Nurmina V. Misuari
III- St. Luke

Submitted to:
Mdme: Janet Cabrera
Subject Teacher