Lesson 3.4 - Heat Conductivity Rate: Part 1

It is a very cold day outside.  You put your bare hand on an iron railing as you are going up the stairs to a building.  Your hand tells you that this is not something you should be touching, right?  It feels really cold.  What if the railing was made of wood instead of iron?  It would still feel cold but not nearly as cold as the iron.  Why is that?  You will find out in the following investigation. 

Read the investigation on page 90 to the end of Part 1.

You will not perform this investigation, but you will use the results that a student recorded.  Then, answer the analysis question that follows.

 

 Number of Wax Beads Melted

Time (min)

Glass Rod

Metal Rod

0

0

0

0.5

0

1

1.0

1

2

1.5

1

3

2.0

2

4

2.5

2

5

Question 1. What do these results tell you about the ability of glass to conduct heat compared to metal?

Check your answers with those that follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers to Questions:

Question 1. What do these results tell you about the ability of glass to conduct heat compared to metal?

As the heat is conducted down the rod, the wax beads melt.  Because the number of wax beads melted was greater for metal than glass, you can conclude that metal is a better conductor that glass.


Go to the next page to continue learning about heat transfer.