Materials Testing Lab

Problem: Which building materials are best at insulating,

conducting, reflecting, and absorbing heat?
Materials: Sand, dirt, water, brick, steel, aluminum, copper,
nails, screws, plywood, osb, 2x4, glass, saran wrap, white paint,
black paint, magnetic paint, plaster, rubber, felt, PVC, jeans, fiber
glass, rigid foam, felt foam, spray foam, reflective bubble wrap.
Procedure:
1. Place one square foot of material four inches below a sixty
watt incandescent light bulb.
2. Place cardboard under material.
3. Take an initial temperature of the material.
4. Turn on the bulb.
5. Record temperature every four minutes for sixteen minutes.
6. Turn off bulb.
7. Record temperature with bulb off every four minutes for
sixteen minutes.
8. Put results in table, graph them, and calculate net
temperature gain.
- For brick, water and sand: Find volume of brick and test
equal volume for other materials.
- For insulating materials: Boil hotdogs, place them in a box of
insulating material, and test temperature.
Results:
My group tested glass and saran wrap, in order to see which
might make for better window insulation in a cold-frame. To test
this we covered the tops of two boxes with the aforementioned
materials, and placed a thermometer inside. To see if double
layers made a significant difference, we got a third box, covered

the top with saran wrap, and put a second layer one inch beneath
the first. The changes in temperature have been recorded in the
table below.

Heat Gain, Celsius

Minute 4
8
s
Glass
+1
+1
(Single
)
Saran +2
+1
(Single
)
Saran +2
+1
(Doubl
e)

Heat Loss, Celsius

12
16
4
8

Net Gain, Celsius

12
16
Net

+1

+0

-2

-1

-0

-0

+0

+1

-2

-0

-1

-1

+1

+0

-1

-1

-1

-1

Graph:
Temperature Over Time
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21

8
Glass

12

16
Saran, Single

20

24

28

32

Saran, Double

Note: The single layer saran wrap is obscured by the double layer
from 0-8 minutes and 24-32 minutes.

Sorry, I am not making a pretty chart for the entire classs data. I
mean, I cant even make a table that big with the tool I am using.
So look at this instead.

Material

Heat Gain

Sand
Dirt
Water
Brick
Steel
Aluminum
Copper
Nails
Screws
Plywood
OSB
2x4
Glass

0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
1
1.5
1
1.5
2.5
2.5
1.5
4

Saran Wrap Single

Saran Wrap Double

3
4
4
5.5
5
5
6.5

White Paint
Yellow Paint
Green Paint
Black Paint
Magnetic Paint 5
Plaster
4
Rubber
5
Felt
4
PVC
Undisclosed
Undisclosed
Jeans
NA
Fiber Glass
NA
Rigid Foam
NA
Felt Foam
NA

Heat Loss
-0.25
0.5
0
0
0.5
0
1
1?
1
0.5
1
0
0.5
0.5
1.5
1
2
0.5
1.5
0
2
2
3
4
4
3
2
3
5
4
1
4
0
5
0
4
0
Undisclosed
21
16
19
10

Net Gain
0.75?
0.5

0
0
0
3.5
3
2
1.5

-21
-16
-19
-10

Spray Foam
Bubble Wrap

NA
NA

22
11

-22
-11

Conclusion: In this lab, our class tested which building materials

are best at insulating, conducting, reflecting, holding, and
absorbing heat. My group tested how good glass and saran wrap
are at absorbing and holding heat. In addition, we tested whether
or not double layers makes a difference in these categories. The
results were largely inconclusive. From the data my group
recorded, it appears that double layers do help hold heat, and
that saran wrap is more effective at holding heat than glass,
however, due to a large degree of experimental error, it is quite
possible that these results are inaccurate. This entire experiment
was full of experimental error. It is quite apparent when you look
at the data of the sand group, whose temperature increased after
the heating had stopped.
There were several different design flaws in the lab. First of
all, the thermometers were hard to accurately read. Another
problem was that placing the thermometer next to the material
didnt really give accurate results. The environment was also not
well regulated, nor realistic. Our results would be more useful if
we all placed the thermometer in the same place on the material.
Volume should have been consistent as well. I could go on, but I
will spare you. In the end the results were inconclusive.