Animal Affect The Rate Of Its Heat Lost

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Heat can be transferred in three ways

1. Conduction

2. Convection

3. Radiation

Conduction is said to be when heat energy is transferred from a source to another without the movement of the source itself. Conduction occurs in solids, for example: metals are good conductors because the bond between electron and atoms are considerably loose due to which they can easily move around and carry kinetic energy. This energy, when meets the another cooler substance, passes on the heat. If there are no free electrons in a substance like that of metals, the heat energy is transferred by collisions between atoms that are tightly packed.

Convection is the exchange of heat from a source to content by the movement of the source itself, which happens in liquids. As loosely packed molecules move, heat is transferred.

Radiation is the exchange of heat energy from one source to another through electromagnet surf. Rays do not need a conductor to be able for it to take position. The amount at which an source extends heat relies on a number of aspects. These aspects include

1. The temperature of the source

2. The type of body of the source

3. The environment temperature

I estimate from the above scientific knowledge that the 50ml beaker will lose the most heat energy and the 1000ml beaker will lose the least heat energy in a given time. This is because the 50ml is the smallest but has the largest surface area to volume ratio, it will lose heat more quickly compared to the 1000 ml beaker. The 1000 ml and has less surface place to volume ratio, so it will lose the least amount of heat energy as there is less surface area revealed comparative to the quantity for molecules to collide and transfer kinetic energy from in a body.

This experiment is in relation to The polar bear (Ursus maritimus); is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear. Hence, in this experiment the 1000 ml beaker is a replication of the small Surface Area/Volume Ratio of a polar bear. [WorldNews,PolarBear,2012] Less surface area helps them survive in cold climates, it helps them have less heat loss and helps them survive.

Table 1: Showing the surface area to volume ratio

surface area : Volume ratio

The experiment relates to syllabus point 2.1 that explains that as the organism gets bigger its surface area: volume ratio decreases. This is explained because of limiting cell size.

In any organism (as polar bear in this experiment), as surface area: volume ratio decreases, the rate of exchange within the body decreases. For Example: during respiration, the volume of oxygen obtained for each unit of cell volume is decreasing.

In another hand, if the surface area:volume ratio is too small, molecules will not be able to enter the cell quick enough to help in reactions and waste materials will start to accumulate within the cell as they will be produced faster than they can be excreted from the body. Also, cells will not be able to lose heat quick enough and so may get too hot resulting to their failure. Hence, surface area:volume ratio is very important in respect to the whole body of an organism.

Purpose:

To investigate the effect of surface area to volume ratio affecting the rate of heat loss of a liquid. (Liquid representing an organism: Polar bears)

Hypothesis: If the total surface area to volume ratio of the container is increased, then the rate of heat loss would be greater.

Justification: Higher surface area results to more body space being exposed to the surrounding. Since the surrounding has less movement of atoms and is not kinetically energized/is cooler, it will get energized as the heat diffuses; the heat is absorbed easily from the body to the surrounding. Thus the body (in this case, liquid) will cool down faster and so the heat loss increases until optimum. (Provided other factors are kept constant)

Null Hypothesis: If the surface area to volume ratio of the container is increased, the rate of heat loss will be less.

Predicted graph:

Table 2:

Variables in this experiment:

Independent Variables:  The surface area to volume ratio

The change in the independent variable will affect the dependent variable because the experiment focuses on variance of the independent variable to the effect on the dependent variable.

Manipulation of variable: There are 5 surface areas being used to show the same organism is different size (i.e Polar Bear). The size of the beakers are: 80, 250,500, 800, 1000 ml. The surface area and volume of all beakers is measured by the following formulae in cm^3:

The volume is measured by length*breadth*height.

http://z.about.com/d/math/1/5/F/F/Cylinderr.gif

Dependent Variable: The temperature change per 20 seconds

Manipulation of the dependent variable: The dependent variable is measured by a temperature probe. The temperature is measured in degrees Celsius and is started from 50 degrees Celsius (+/-1) (average body temperature of Polar bear).

Control Variable:

Variable

How it effects practical

How controlled

Initial temperature

Affect the rate of cooling down, ( for example, if the initial temperature is higher, then the rate of cooling is faster at the starting few minutes).

This variable can be kept constant by using the same heated water together at the same time, so the initial temperature is kept constant, or wait till the water cool to the starting temperature.

Surrounding temperature

The cooling rate would differ if the surrounding temperature is warm or cold, the rate of temperature change would differ

.

The experiment is done in room temperature, which in this experiment is generally 24 degrees Celsius.

Liquid used

If the liquid used to varied and different, the heat capacity will vary with it.

The same type of liquid is used to simulate an organism. Since a body of polar bear has 80% water, water is a appropriate liquid to be used.

Flow rate of air(wind speed)

if the wind speed is not constant then the rate of un-energized air molecules occurrence would not be constant.

For this, there is no external wind used and the air is at rest.

The total duration of time

This variable is the a constant, so that we can compare the data over a fixed duration of time and equally.

A constant time is taken. (5 minutes)

Contact of beaker with the table.

The temperature may not be decreasing because of heat being loss but rather the molecules can be diffusing to the coolness of the table in which the beaker was put.

This can be avoided by either conducting the experiment on a standing clamp or keeping a cardboard in between to make sure the temperature of the table doesn’t affect the heat loss.

Materials/Apparatus

1. 100ml of water of a certain high temperature(less than b. pt. 100oC)

Glass beaker, 5 different sizes

Alcohol-in-glass thermometer/ Temperature probe

A stop watch/ Logger Pro software (if using a temperature probe)

Notepad and pencil (for data collection)

Materials

Quantity

Errors/Uncertainties

Beakers: 50ml, 250 ml, 500 ml, 800 ml, 1000 ml

1 each

+/-5%

Temperature Probe/Thermometer

1

+/-0.5 Degrees Celsius

Stopwatch

1

Least count: 0.5 second

Notepad/Pencil/Excel software

1

-

Water

225ml approx. (45 used for each beaker)

-

Light sensor

1

-

pH paper

1

Max pH 13

Design Aspect 2:

Procedure:

Measure the surface area and volume of 5 different beakers with different measurements. (80,250, 500, 800, 1000) using the formula in table 1.

Mark the beakers 1-5, according to different surface areas.

Take the mass of water with the beaker and without the beaker to see the mass of organism and water individually. Record this data on the same table as surface area: volume ratio.

Heat the water to 50 Celsius.

Pour the water in the beaker.

4)   Measure the temperature to make sure it is 50 degrees Celsius using a temperature probe. Software called logger pro is used to help the temperature probe collect data efficiently. Alternatively, a thermometer can be used, however the data may not be as precise.

5)   Immediately start the stop watch/collect data in logger pro and measure or fix the data collection of temperature for 5 minutes (300 seconds)

6)  After 5 minutes, record the temperature according to the surface area.

7)  For each beaker, repeat the steps 3-6.

8) Repeat steps 4-6 for 5 times for valid data.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J6C5QWobYps/Ta72NqBxZ_I/AAAAAAAAADI/3xl1Q9cR81Q/s400/bio+surface+area.png

Figure 1: Visual of set up during the experiment. The arrow in the diagram represents the heat transfer from the beaker because the intial and final temperature and important and are measured in this experiment.

Design Aspect 3:

The data will be collected 5 times in 5 different test tubes. Even though it is a replication of heat loss in organism, in this case, polar bear, it will not harm any organism since the practical is a laboratory simulation.

The following page contains raw data:

 

80ml (+/-1 )

 

250ml(+/-1)

 

500ml (+/-1 )

 

800ml (+/-1 )

 

1000ml (+/-1 )

 

Temperature(degrees)

Time (seconds) 

trial 1

trial 2

trial 3

Average

trial 1

trial 2

trial 3

Average

trial 1

trial 2

trial 3

Average

trial 1

trial 2

trial 3

Average

trial 1

trial 2

trial 3

Average

20

50

50

50

117

50

50

50

117

50

50

50

117

50

50

50

117

50

50

50

117

40

48

47

49

111

47

49

49

112

49

49

49

114

49

49

48

114

49

48

50

114

60

49

47

49

112

47

49

49

112

49

49

33

109

49

49

48

114

49

48

50

114

80

50

47

49

113

47

49

49

112

49

49

33

109

49

49

48

114

49

48

50

114

100

33

34

45

82

34

49

45

98

45

48

34

104

48

49

48

113

49

48

49

113

120

32

34

33

77

34

44

40

91

40

48

39

101

48

48

48

112

48

48

48

112

140

32

32

33

75

32

43

30

85

30

48

28

87

48

47

48

111

47

48

40

108

160

29

30

32

70

30

30

33

71

33

30

27

72

30

47

34

88

47

34

40

94

180

25

29

24

62

29

31

25

68

25

29

26

63

29

34

33

74

46

33

38

92

200

24

29

24

61

29

22

20

58

20

28

22

55

28

33

32

72

34

32

38

79

220

24

25

23

57

25

22

20

54

20

25

22

52

25

33

32

69

33

32

37

77

240

24

24

22

55

24

22

20

53

20

20

22

47

20

32

31

62

33

31

32

75

260

22

24

20

53

24

22

20

51

20

20

20

47

20

23

31

53

33

31

32

75

280

22

21

20

50

24

22

19

47

19

20

20

46

20

21

31

51

33

31

31

74

300

22

21

20

50

24

22

20

48

20

19

20

46

19

20

30

49

33

30

30

73

 

 

 

 

1144

 

 

 

1177

 

 

 

1169

 

 

 

1313

 

 

 

1430

Table: Raw data showing the temperature loss during the period of 300 seconds

Even though the initial plan was to have 5 repeats, the experiment was only done for 3 repeats because the results, as seen in the table, were similar

The graph shows the temperature loss in every 20 seconds

d (mm)

h

Cylinder 1 (80ml)

5.2

6.9

Cyliner 2 (250 ml)

7.5

9

Cyliner 3 (500ml)

9.5

12

Cyliner 4 (800ml)

11.4

14

Cylinder 5 (1000ml)

12.2

15.5

Figure 3: Table showing the diameter, height, volume and surface area.

volume

SA

Cylinder 1 (80ml)

1

1

Cyliner 2 (250 ml)

1

2

Cyliner 3 (500ml)

1

4

Cyliner 4 (800ml)

1

5

Cylinder 5 (1000ml)

1

10

Figure 4: Table showing the surface area to volume ratios.

Mass of the beaker (g)

Mass of the beaker with water (g)

Room Temperature (Celsius)

Cylinder 1 (80ml)

50.7

131.8

24

Cyliner 2 (250 ml)

111.8

320.6

24

Cyliner 3 (500ml)

222.5

699.5

24

Cyliner 4 (800ml)

281.6

1094

24

Cylinder 5 (1000ml)

300

2087

24

Fig 5: Table showing the mass of the beaker with and without water and room temperature

Light control : 293 Illum (lux)

pH (water): 7

Surface area to volume ratio of water in a beaker

Trial Number

Initial temperature of water

(oC ± 1 oC)

Final temperature of water

(oC ± 1 oC)

Change in water temperature (%)

Average change in water temperature (%)

Standard deviation

( correct to 1 decimal place)

1:1

1

50

22

-56

-174

1.6

2

50

21

-58

3

50

20

-60

2:1

1

50

24

-52

-168

3.2

2

50

22

-56

3

50

20

-60

4:1

1

50

20

-60

-182

0.9

2

50

19

-62

3

50

20

-60

5:1

1

50

19

-62

-162

9.9

2

50

20

-60

3

50

30

-40

10:1

1

50

33

-34

-114

2.8

2

50

30

-40

3

50

30

-40

Processed data:

Table: Showing the average change in temperature and standard deviation for processing the data in graphical format.

Formula for calculating change in temp as a percentage:

Final Temp – Initial Temp x 100

Initial Temp

Volume: Surface area

Volume: Surface area (in decimals)

Temperature change

 1:1

0.04

-174

 1:2

0.08

-168

 1:4

0.17

-182

 1:5

0.21

-162

 1:10

0.42

-114

Table: Showing the volume: surface area ratio in decimal in relation to temperature change

Graph: showing the trend of temperature, this graph is shown in the same format as the predicted graph before to show the resemblance (if any exists).

Graph: A graph showing the relation of surface area to volume for average temperature change of water in 5 beakers. The graph also has a trend line.

Graph: showing the effects of changing the Surface area:V ratio from (1:1 to 10:1) on the change in temperature of water in 5 different sized beakers over the cumulative 300 seconds. Errors bars ± 1 standard deviation from the mean. Please note that the average change in temperature is cumulative of differences in 300 seconds.

Results

The results attained from the experiment and tabulated and were used to create a graph to show the relationship between surface area:volume ratio and heat loss in each beaker after five minutes.

The graph shows that the 80 ml beaker underwent the most heat loss in the five minutes.

However, the beakers had fairly similar starting and ending temperatures and thus it is difficult to distinguish between the two in the plotted graph. However, the 50 ml beaker underwent more heat loss as there is a region in the graph where it has a higher temperature than the second.

The initial temperatures were similar in value for each beaker. This shows that each absorbed nearly the same amount of heat in the beginning.

From the results obtained above, it is agreed that if the base surface area of the container is increased, then the rate of heat loss would be greater. As seen from Graph above, the larger the surface area to volume ratio, the shorter time is needed for temperature to be lost.

The 1000ml with the highest surface area to volume ratio retained the most heat and underwent the least heat loss. The 50ml beaker with the lowest surface area to volume ratio had the highest rate of heat loss. My hypothesis stated that the 50ml would have the highest rate of heat loss as it had a small surface area. Even though the datas are fairly similar, the averages support the hypothesis that the beaker with the smallest surface area had the highest temperature change hence the more heat loss.

This result agrees to knowledge that we have about cells, which states that the surface area to volume ratio is important in relation to heat loss because if it is too small metabolism in cells will produce heat faster than the surface can lose heat and will cause overheating of cells. This affects the whole body of the organism.

The Error bars compare the 5 beaker temperature change visually (if various other conditions are constant). This can determine whether differences are statistically significant. As we can see, the data has a pattern, the 50ml beaker has the highest error bar (spread out data) and the 1000 ml beaker has the lowest.

In all experiments the heat was mostly lost through convection; this was due to the hot water being in contact with the cooler air. The cooler air rises and then heats up drawing in more cool air to the hot water, the cool air keeps circulating until the water is cool.

Evaluation

Factor affecting

Effect on data

Improvement

Usage of a lid in the beaker

Volume of water

If the can is insulated

Starting temperature

The temperature in parts of the beaker.

There will be a great difference in the speed of heat loss if I use a lid. This is because a large amount of heat will escape from the top of the can by convection and evaporation. Therefore if I use a lid it will slow down these processes.

When the volume of water is higher, it will stay warmer for longer than if there was a low volume of water. This is because when there is a high volume of water then the outside of the water will cool down, but the inside will stay warm.

This is because the insulation will slow down the process of heat loss. If the beaker does not have insulation then the process will not slow down. If different types of insulation are used then this will affect the heat loss. Materials of high insulation such as bubble wrap or cotton wool will not allow much heat to be transferred through it, however materials of low Insulation such as black card will let the heat pass through it quicker.

The starting temperature affects the experiment because the higher the temp the quicker the water will cool.

The temperature may be less at the top of the beaker because heat is directly being loss by radiation and convection.

Since the temperature has to be measured using an external equipment (i.e thermometer), the lid should be open (even though it is not the best simulation of an organism, however it is best that can be done in this condition) or a hole can be made through a lid to put the thermometer in.

Instead of using different volumes of water for all 5 conditions, an average volume should be calculated and used.

A cardboard can be used to reduce heat loss from the table.

The starting temperature should be the exact same.

Stirring the water constantly to keep the temperature constant.