Science Lab Report- Heat Conduction Experiment

Question:

Which metal conducts heat fastest to melt wax?

Hypothesis:

If a wax on the copper melts the fastest, then it means copper is the best conductor. It is because better conductors transfer heat faster, and heat makes wax melt; Copper is the best conductor because it has a high density and copper particles are close apart so it’s easier to pass the heat.

Material:

HCA, lighter, wax, candle

Variables:

Independent variable: Type of metal

Dependant variable: Time to melt wax

Constants: Amount of wax, Type of wax, Location of heat, Angles and Location of “Heat Conduction Apparatus”, size of HCA

Procedure:

1. Light the candle in order to melt the wax, put a drop in each hole.
2. Wait for the wax to dry and peel/take out extra parts.
3. Light a candle and put the HCA with the wax above the fire.
4. Observe with eyes and use a thin stick to nudge the wax to see which one melts first.
5. Record the results.

Results:

Type of metal (Independent Variable)	Time to melt wax (seconds) (dependant variable)
Aluminum	2:22
Brass	3:05
Steel	5:03
Nickel plated steel	Over 17 mins and still not melting
Copper	1:35

Conclusion:

The best conductor here is copper, and then it’s aluminum, and then it is brass, and then it is steel, and then it is nickel plated steel. It is because copper and aluminium It is because steel is a mixture of different metals, so there are not that close and combined to each other, and nickel plated steel is two different materials so they are separated to each other so they cannot pass the heat together. In order to test if the order is correct, we put ice on the materials, but we only have brass, steel, and  aluminium. And the ice on the aluminium melted first, and then the one on the brass melted, and then the one on the steel melted. This is because the H2O particles and taking heat from the different materials, and if the materials dense and the particles are closer apart, the energy loses faster. Hence, this proves the order is correct.

Evaluation:

Although this experiment is already accurate enough for us to test these materials if they are good conductors, there is still places where it can be improved. The most important improvement will be: we are holding the HCA so it would be more controlled if we put the HCE on a “holder” thing to hold it still and balance.

We doing the experiment